Apr 29, 2026
If you thought self-driving cars or Tesla cybertrucks are as far-fetched as it gets, the 123-year-old Ford has been sneaking in new global IP. Ford's latest patent (1) involves using cameras and machine learning to read lips, scan irises, track facial expressions and monitor heart rates. It can even compare biometric data to law enforcement databases.
Ford's stated goal? To improve voice commands and check if a driver is alert and fit to drive. Technology commentator, Loyal Moses' viral video (2), "It's not your truck anymore," called it a war on independence and how people must fight to own what they buy.
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"Imagine there was an emergency outside the truck and I jumped in this truck but it won't shift into drive. Why? The cameras and sensors into this cab won't let it shift because it detects my eyes are big. There's a lot of emotion, some panic and it doesn't feel that I'm fit to drive," he said.
Past patents include allowing cars to monitor the speed of other vehicles (3) then share data with police, ad-based monetization (4) based on conversations passengers have and actual products that now exist such as Ford Pro Telematics (5), where fleet managers can access real-time videos of their drivers.
Senators (6) have called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate automakers' disclosure of millions of Americans' driving data to data brokers. Multiple manufacturers were named.
Overdriving the data
In Moses' video, which has racked up almost 96K views in three days, he said once biometrics data is in-cabin, insurance companies don't need a court order to access it.
"You'll get in an accident and in those 90 seconds before impact, your truck logged your heartrate, your eye movement, your facial expression and your lip movements. Law enforcement subpoenas the data. Your own truck testifies against you. Your insurance company denies the claim," he said.
This is yet another version of a product that can't be used without opting out of these overreaches, marketed as convenience and personalization.
Harry Maugans, a digital surveillance expert, said to Moneywise that modern cars have quietly become some of the most invasive surveillance devices most Americans own, without realizing it.
"Between facial recognition, lip-reading patents, emotion detection, eye tracking, distracted driving cameras and constant location telemetry, your car now collects more sensitive data about you in a week than your phone collects in a month," Maugans said.
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Noah M. Kenney, an expert in AI governance and privacy, also shared his concerns with Moneywise.
"Modern vehicles already collect an extraordinary amount of personal information through cameras, microphones, and sensors, and that data routinely flows back to the manufacturer's cloud, gets shared with dealers and insurers and in many cases is sold to third parties for marketing or analytics, he said.
"Adding a high-resolution biometric template of your face to that pipeline is not a small step. A face scan is not like a password you can change if it leaks. It is a permanent identifier, and once it exists in a manufacturer's cloud, it can be matched against driving patterns, location history and everything else the vehicle already knows about you."
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What this means for everyday Americans
Kenney said while Ford has not committed to deploying this patent in production and they may never will, the trajectory is clear. "Analog is not dying because consumers asked for surveillance, but because the data itself has become a revenue stream the industry is unwilling to give up.
There's currently no federal law that meaningfully restricts what manufacturers can do with biometric data from a vehicle. Be wary of every "smart" feature. Get in the habit of reading the terms of service, align with brands with more ethical data collection methods, ask more questions and be conscious about where you direct your money.
You vote with your dollars.
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Google Patents (1); YouTube (2); Trea (3); DocumentCloud (4); Ford Pro (5); U.S. Senate (6)
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Amanda Smith is a freelance journalist and writer. She reports on culture/society, technology, and health. Her ability to hold a mirror up to society, to see both the malaise and majesty, has led to assignments with highly respected titles such as The Guardian, Business Insider, MIT Tech Review, and National Geographic.
