Leonardo ELSAG SignalTrace
| Basic Information | |
|---|---|
| Release Year | 2025 |
| Product Type | License plate reader,Surveillance |
| In Production | Yes |
| Official Website | https://www.leonardocompany-us.com/lpr/elsag-signaltrace |
Leonardo ELSAG SignalTrace is a sensor system that attaches to automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras and captures the wireless identifiers broadcast by phones, earbuds, smartwatches & other electronic devices traveling in a vehicle, then ties those devices to the vehicle's license plate and a timestamped location.[1][2] Marketed by Leonardo's United States subsidiary under its ELSAG brand, the product is built to identify the people inside a car, not just the car, by assembling what the company calls an "electronic fingerprint" of the devices that repeatedly travel together.[1] Leonardo received a U.S. patent for the underlying system on March 26, 2024, and announced it on May 30, 2024.[3][4] Reporting in June 2026 framed the device-tracking capability as one that license plate cameras would soon carry; no law-enforcement agency has been documented deploying SignalTrace.[2][5]
Background
[edit | edit source]Leonardo US Cyber and Security Solutions, LLC, formerly Selex ES, is the United States subsidiary of Leonardo, a global aerospace, defense, and security company.[4][3] Its ELSAG brand sells automatic license plate reader technology used by law enforcement.[4]
On May 30, 2024, the company announced that it had received U.S. patent 11,941,716 B2, "Systems and methods for electronic signature tracking," granted March 26, 2024.[4][3] The patent, with a priority date of December 15, 2020 and inventors Todd Child and Bernard Howe, describes roadside sensors that capture wireless signals from consumer devices, group the devices that travel together into an electronic signature, and merge that signature with timestamps and plate reads from ALPR cameras.[3] Leonardo first branded the system ELSAG EOC Plus.[4] Jason Laquatra, general manager of Leonardo US Cyber and Security Solutions, framed the goal in the announcement:
The future of LPR advancements is reliant on enhancing LPR data sets with additional information from various electronic devices to find the individuals police are looking for.
A Leonardo product sheet dated September 9, 2025 markets the system as ELSAG SignalTrace.[1] In June 2026, 404 Media reporter Joseph Cox reported that the company planned to add the sensors to license plate readers already in the field.[2]
Capture mechanism and tracked devices
[edit | edit source]SignalTrace clips sensors onto license plate cameras already mounted on poles, overpasses, and police cars, and reads the radio frequencies that nearby devices broadcast.[2][5] Leonardo's product sheet describes the result:
When multiple devices consistently move together with a vehicle, SignalTrace's algorithms link them to that vehicle's license plate and time-stamped location data. This correlation provides investigators with another layer of actionable intelligence, even if a suspect changes or removes a plate.
The sheet lists four categories of detectable identifiers: RFID tags (key cards, asset tags, pallet transmitters, and pet microchips); Bluetooth devices (mobile phones, wearables such as watches and fitness trackers, and wireless headphones); vehicle components (tire pressure sensors, security and safety sensors, and infotainment systems); and Wi-Fi sources (vehicle hotspots, tablets and smartphones, and laptops).[1] Writing in The Drive, Adam Ismail noted that the list runs from AirTags and earbuds to a car's tire-pressure monitors and a pet's implanted microchip.[5]
Leonardo says the system reads only what devices transmit publicly and does not intercept communications. The product sheet states:
SignalTrace captures only publicly broadcast device frequency activity. It does not decrypt or store any content from devices or communications. It functions like a license plate reader by capturing identifiers without accessing personal or message data.
The 2024 announcement made the same claim for EOC Plus, saying it "captures device frequencies emitted into the air" and "does not decrypt or capture the contents of the devices or their communications."[4]
Privacy and surveillance concerns
[edit | edit source]404 Media described SignalTrace as a change in what license plate networks do:
The technology, called SignalTrace, would turn ALPR cameras from devices focused on tracking cars to ones that can more readily track the location of particular people.
Writing on June 11, 2026, security technologist Bruce Schneier placed the product against the wider data-collection backdrop:
Yes, it's bad that more companies are collecting this level of surveillance data. But all of this pales in comparison to the type and quantity of data our smartphones already collect about us.
Deployment status and market context
[edit | edit source]As of June 2026, no police department, city, or pilot program had been publicly documented using SignalTrace; coverage described it as patented, marketed, and forthcoming rather than in service.[2][5] Cox's report said the company "plans to add" the sensors, and Ismail's headline said cameras "will soon" track the devices.[2][5]
SignalTrace enters an ALPR market that federal agencies are moving to tap. Reporting on a separate FBI effort to obtain nationwide plate-reader access, 404 Media noted that "Only a couple vendors could likely fulfill what the FBI is after, namely Flock and Motorola."[7] SignalTrace is a Leonardo product; neither Flock nor Motorola Solutions makes or sells it. It is also distinct from Flock's Nova platform, a Flock data tool that links plate reads to people by combining law-enforcement and outside records rather than by capturing device signals at the roadside.[8]
See also
[edit | edit source]- Flock Safety
- Flock license plate readers
- Common Questions, Arguments, & Responses when discussing Flock Surveillance
- Hikvision
- Axon
- BusPatrol
- LiveView Technologies
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Leonardo US Cyber and Security Solutions (2025-09-09). "ELSAG SignalTrace product sheet". DocumentCloud. Retrieved 2026-06-21.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Cox, Joseph (2026-06-08). "This Company Will Add Phone, AirPod, and Smartwatch Trackers to License Plate Readers". 404 Media. Retrieved 2026-06-21.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Child, Todd; Howe, Bernard (2024-03-26). "US11941716B2: Systems and methods for electronic signature tracking". Google Patents. Retrieved 2026-06-21.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 "Leonardo US Cyber and Security Solutions receives a patent for their new electronic signature tracking system for law enforcement". Business Wire. 2024-05-30. Archived from the original on 2025-08-10. Retrieved 2026-06-21.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Ismail, Adam (2026-06-17). "License Plate Cameras Will Soon Track Phones, Wearables, Infotainment, and Even Your Pets". The Drive. Retrieved 2026-06-21.
- ↑ Schneier, Bruce (2026-06-11). "Enhanced License Plate Tracking". Schneier on Security. Retrieved 2026-06-21.
- ↑ Cox, Joseph (2026-05-18). "The FBI Wants to Buy Nationwide Access to License Plate Readers". 404 Media. Retrieved 2026-06-21.
- ↑ Cox, Joseph (2025-05-14). "License Plate Reader Company Flock Is Building a Massive People Lookup Tool, Leak Shows". 404 Media. Retrieved 2026-06-21.