DHS Wants To Let Police And Emergency Vehicles Talk To Your Car

It seems like not a week goes by that I am not warning everyone about another government surveillance program.

Sadly, this story is no different and this one might send shivers down your spine. (Happy Halloween.)

Government spying on the public is out of control, and perhaps nothing says that more than the latest revelation about DHS’s plan to allow first responders to send digital alerts to every vehicle. All in the name of public safety of course.

Two days ago, an article in NextGov, revealed that DHS is giving the Heedful Audio Alert System $1.1 million to let police, firefighters, and paramedics talk to your car via the Waze app.

The HAAS Alert system will allow first responders to send notifications to everyone’s vehicle and phone.

Why would first responders need to talk to our cars?

For their safety of course. DHS and first responders are trying to convince the public that the “Move Over” law is ineffective and does not protect them.

Don’t be fooled by trumped up safety claims that first responders need to have access to our cars.

DHS plans to turn cars into government surveillance vehicles

HAAS Alert’s cellular vehicle-to-vehicle app (C-V2V) allows first responders to send push notifications and audible alerts to everyone’s infotainment system.

Can anyone say FEMA’s Presidential Alerts?

WFTV Channel 9’s video revealed that the HAAS Alert system will soon go national (approx. 45 secs.). HAAS Alert is so confident their system will go national they even copyrighted it, calling it R2V or the Responder-To-Vehicle program.

HAAS Alert has also set up their very own HAAS Alert Safety Cloud to convince first responders to purchase their R2V system.

What makes this app so disturbing is number one, HAAS Alerts are part of a much larger Smart Cities surveillance program.

Last year an article in Smart Cities Connect revealed that HAAS has been running in at least ten cities. It will soon become standard equipment on new vehicles if the Jaguar Land Rover Tech is any indication.

Jaguar is not the only company to offer DHS surveillance tech in their new cars.

Last year I warned everyone that the Ford Motor Company was equipping new cars with TSA PreCheck biometric scanners.

A recent article in Gizmodo revealed what I have been warning people about for years. Ann Cavoukian, the former privacy commissioner of Ontario said, “I imagined us creating a Smart City of Privacy, as opposed to a Smart City of Surveillance.”

Another indication that HAAS Alert is going national.

HAAS Alert CEO Cory Cobbs said, “the project will focus heavily on expanding alerts and communication between different groups of first responders and working with manufacturers to build the system directly into vehicle dashboards.”

If any of you think this is a good idea, I have a suggestion for you, why not just pay first responders to be your chauffeur? Giving government workers access to our vehicles’ infotainment systems and cellphones is a terrible idea.

Keep the government out of our cars!

You can read more at the MassPrivateI blog, where this article first appeared.

Image credit: Chicago Tribune