via https://old.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/1ucesku/elsag_integrated_signal_intelligence_platform/

archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260620122134/https://www.leonardocompany-us.com/lpr/elsag-signaltrace

ELSAG SignalTrace is a groundbreaking software system for law enforcement, designed to identify suspect people or vehicles, even when a license plate number is not known. This system integrates seamlessly with the ELSAG Enterprise Operations Center, our standard data management and analysis software.

This system uses strategically placed sensors to collect electronic communication patterns and identities of consumer electronics, like vehicle components, Bluetooth, RFID tags, and Wi-Fi. As the electronic devices emit signals, sensors in the SignalTrace software capture their identifying or categorizing details to create an additional data set to enhance the records captured by LPR cameras in the area.

Product Features

• Identifies the movements of electronic devices, individuals, and vehicles
• Stores data on the SignalTrace server where it can be queried and analyzed to aid investigations
• Respects individuals’ privacy rights (does not decrypt or read content from devices)
• Allows law enforcement to recognize a specific vehicle included in an electronic signature, without the license plate number
• Reveals signatures frequently travelling together with an individual or vehicle, which can lead to the discovery of convoys and other movement and travel patterns
• SignalTrace is effective in off-road areas such as in subways and malls
• Performs with or without license plate readers at every collection site, allowing for a wider coverage area while keeping deployment costs down

How it works

As the devices emit signals, SignalTrace sites captures them and correlates them together, along with LPR data if present. The data collected shows what group of devices are travelling together. As part of investigations, algorithms can determine which specific mix of devices are predictably moving together. That specific mix of devices—linked by common time stamps and locations—are described as an electronic fingerprint and can aid in the identification of suspects or witnesses.

For example: while 70 cars in 100 may contain iPhones, only one will have an iPhone 13rev2, an Audi radio, a pair of Bose headphones, a Garmin sports watch, a key finder, and the license plate ABC-1234. The collection of data represented by these specific things is an electronic signature.