Ford Patents Distracted Driving

Maybe I should title this “what could possibly go wrong”. This is not specifically a security issue, but it could be. Mostly it is a safety issue.

In new cars, you have a big ole screen in the front. It is designed to replace the dash controls and instruments.

If you are Ford and you are looking for new revenue streams as people are buying fewer cars, you come up with one and patent it.

What if Ford figured out where you were on the road and what billboards you are passing (or stores or whatever) and throw up an ad on that screen. After all, those self driving cars have a bunch of cameras. Surely they could lock into an image that a company paid Ford to display.

After all, what could possibly go wrong if Ford displays an ad for that big sale at the XYZ store. Surely you are not going to look at that ad instead of crashing into the car in front of you.

Oh, wait, that is not what they meant.

Of course, if the car is fully self driving. FULLY. self driving. Maybe that wouldn’t be such a risk. Are they only going to display ads when the car is in full self driving mode.

Is the driver going to hit the brakes when he or she sees an ad that attracts him or her. I guess that will test all of other cars collision avoidance systems.

Of course, I am sure, it would be impossible to hack. Picture this. Your car is now encrypted with ransomware and if you want to drive it again, pay us 1 Bitcoin.

What could go wrong? The possibilities are limitless.

Credit: Ford

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