Over the last few years, automakers have been packing cars full of cameras. While they may add some cost, the functionality they bring has almost always been a positive. That functionality is almost always regarding visibility, but it’s visibility in tricky situations, such as backing up, checking blind spots, and seeing over and around obstacles. They’ve also been instrumental in adding safety features such as automatic emergency braking.
A recently published patent from Hyundai and Kia, though, suddenly has us second-guessing whether we really want so many cameras on cars.
One Way Or Another, A Hyundai Could Find You
CarBuzz discovered this patent with the number 20260321058 and the title “Person Search Apparatus And Method.” It was published quite recently on October 15, and it has to do with using camera systems to identify specific people. It only specifically notes surveillance systems and “mobile robots,” but the patent was specifically filed by Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation. As such, it doesn’t seem to us like a stretch that this could apply to the camera sets on cars. Robots are also quite relevant to Hyundai, since the broader company owns robotics company Boston Dynamics.
The patent goes into detail about how the computers linking the multiple cameras in the system, robot, or vehicle would be able to track a variety of details of a person, notably things such as height, width, and placement of physical features such as eyes and ears. It would also be able to recognize different clothes and other details. The patent goes on to describe how it could be possible for a user to be able to input attributes of a specific person that the camera and computer system could look up in order to find someone.
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Before we dig in here, it’s important to note that many patents from companies, automotive or otherwise, never actually reach reality. So it’s entirely possible, maybe even likely, that this person recognition system Hyundai and Kia have patented doesn’t ever show up in a car.
Additionally, there are some niche cases where a system like this could potentially be useful. If someone has gone missing, a system that could specifically keep an eye out for someone matching the description could be helpful in finding them, particularly if that system were mobile on a car or robot. For a security system, a system could help detect or find a suspected criminal.
However, as we’ve learned in the last year or two, the ever-growing surveillance networks spreading around the US present enormous dangers both from errors to outright abuse, especially when accessible via large networks. Earlier this year, another car journalist, Joel Feder, at The Drive, ended up in a scary police stop because the Land Rover he was borrowing from the company for test purposes was caught by Flock license plate-reading cameras and flagged as a stolen vehicle. USA Today published an investigation that revealed police officers in multiple states using Flock surveillance systems to stalk specific people for personal reasons.
Flock License Plate CameraFlock
These issues are just the tip of the iceberg for potential problems from mass surveillance, and especially AI-powered systems. Just a few years ago, Scientific American published a story talking about how AI-powered facial recognition systems have led to wrongful arrests of Black people. There’s also the simple fact that people generally don’t like being constantly surveilled when they’re not doing anything wrong. Another strange situation occurred recently when Waymo cameras saw teens in an autonomous vehicle shooting basically water guns out the window, and Waymo called police to the vehicle.
All of this has led to significant public backlash. An organization called DeFlock has created a database locating Flock cameras around the country. Even MapQuest has added a function to its map app that will show the locations of these cameras. States, cities, and companies around the country have even started ending contracts with Flock. Even the city where our journalist colleague Joel Feder is from cancelled their plans for Flock cameras.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
Hyundai and Kia need to leave this patent on the shelf, at the very least with regard to its cars. It doesn’t seem to have any real direct benefit to owners of cars, and the potential benefits are so slim compared to the dangers from errors and abuse. Even if the benefits were more tangible, the public perception of mass surveillance alone would make implementation of it on a car a suicidal move for a car company.
In fact, maybe instead of leaving this patent on the shelf, it should be buried in an undisclosed location, never to be found again.
Source: US Patent And Trademark Office, The Drive, USA Today, Scientific American
