Tire Sensors Can Track Cars Built Since 2008
Mar 1st 2026
A study from IMDEA Networks shows that unencrypted tire pressure sensors emit trackable unique IDs, allowing low-cost receivers to follow vehicle movements and infer details about the car.
- Tire pressure monitoring systems have been mandatory on new cars in the US since the 2008 model year.
- IMDEA Networks built a network of receivers costing about $100 each and collected roughly six million TPMS signals from about 20,000 cars over 10 weeks.
- TPMS broadcast unique IDs that can be received from more than 160 feet away, including through buildings.
- Researchers showed signals can be matched to individual tires and used to infer vehicle type or whether a car is carrying a heavy load.
- Current regulations do not require encryption or authentication for TPMS, leaving them vulnerable to passive tracking