Vehicle Tire Pressure Sensors Enable Silent Tracking

Researchers demonstrated that tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) sensors broadcast unencrypted, persistent unique IDs that can be captured by low-cost receivers from up to ~50 meters (and even from inside buildings), enabling tracking of vehicles and inference of sensitive attributes such as presence, vehicle type, weight, and driving patterns. The study collected millions of TPMS transmissions and shows this privacy-invasive capability is widely feasible because TPMS transmissions require no authentication and cannot be disabled without affecting safety.