How technology has redefined the job of the repo man
mercurynews.com
How technology has redefined the job of the repo man
1–10 of 88 posts
Re: How technology has redefined the job of the repo man
#2> The company’s goal is to capture every plate in Ohio and use that information to reveal patterns.
That's horrifying.
It reminds me of how social security numbers evolved from something narrow in purpose to something that can be used to track an individual's every detail. Now license plates are evolving into a tool that is used to build databases of every individual's movement.
Re: How technology has redefined the job of the repo man
#3I work as an automotive mechanic, and while I maintain a relatively neutral opinion on repo men, sometimes the amateurs that crawl out of the weeds are absurd.
Ive had repo agents posing as customers looking to "get their car," which is pretty funny, but ive also seen agents harassing the front office staff with demands for a vehicle being worked on. Sometimes a driver will park their car to suddenly find theyve been "hitched up" to a seedy looking tow apparatus on the back of an often ironically leased light duty truck. Repo agents in this case show up as "innocent" middle men while a driver pleads and begs over the phone with a lender to not tow their car for any number of humiliating excuses.
Ive also had cars towed to the shop i work at complaining that the vehicle does not start, which are sometimes the saddest jobs to work on as automotive dealerships typically install an ECU interlock somewhere in the vehicle to remotely disable or neuter certain features of the car if you dont make a payment. I usually remove the devices, not out of a kindness to the customer but because they can make diagnosing real problems with vehicles infuriatingly difficult. They can also be triggered to honk the horn at random or odd intervals as a reminder to pay the piper, which turns a regular shift in the garage into a massive headache trying to track down the upset BMW or Mercedes that wont stop making racket in the lot.
Re: How technology has redefined the job of the repo man
#4Wow, everything in this article is horrifying:
> the rising deployment of remote engine cutoffs and GPS locators in cars
Wait, so people can remotely track my car or turn it off? This doesn't sound like a hack away from disaster at all.
> The companyʼs goal is to capture every plate in Ohio and use that information to reveal patterns…“Itʼs kind of scary, but itʼs amazing,” said Alana Ferrante, chief executive of Relentless.
No, it's just scary.
> Repo agents are responsible for the majority of the billions of license plate scans produced nationwide. But they donʼt control the information. Most of that data is owned by Digital Recognition Network (DRN), a Fort Worth company that is the largest provider of license-plate-recognition systems. And DRN sells the information to insurance companies, private investigators — even other repo agents.
As if you couldn't make a bad situation worse: let's give all the information to a private company that has every reason to resell all that data.
Re: How technology has redefined the job of the repo man
#5> The company’s goal is to capture every plate in Ohio and use that information to reveal patterns. That's horrifying. It reminds me of how social security numbers evolved from something narrow in purpose to something that can be used to track an individual's every detail. Now license plates are evolving into a tool that is used to build databases of every individual's movement.
That's how the mafia used to work. Watch people during their fun times. Reveal patterns, then extort them.
Re: How technology has redefined the job of the repo man
#6Wow, everything in this article is horrifying: > the rising deployment of remote engine cutoffs and GPS locators in cars Wait, so people can remotely track my car or turn it off? This doesn't sound like a hack away from disaster at all. > The companyʼs goal is to capture every plate in Ohio and use that information to reveal patterns…“Itʼs kind of scary, but itʼs amazing,” said Alana Ferrante, chief executive of Rele…
Wait, so people can remotely track my car or turn it off?
Under those circumstances it's not really "your" car.
Yes, you might have put down 5% of the total purchase price. So you have a title, and legally you own the car. But 95% of the "skin in the game" is the lender's. The car belongs mostly to the lender.
Don't like that? Easy solution, don't be a deadbeat. Or save up and pay cash.
I agree with the rest of your post. The privacy implications are quite scary.
Re: How technology has redefined the job of the repo man
#7Disgusting. We need to rethink “privacy and surveillance” in the age of 24/7 cameras and image analysis.
Re: How technology has redefined the job of the repo man
#8Wow, everything in this article is horrifying: > the rising deployment of remote engine cutoffs and GPS locators in cars Wait, so people can remotely track my car or turn it off? This doesn't sound like a hack away from disaster at all. > The companyʼs goal is to capture every plate in Ohio and use that information to reveal patterns…“Itʼs kind of scary, but itʼs amazing,” said Alana Ferrante, chief executive of Rele…
Wait, so people can remotely track my car or turn it off? Under those circumstances it's not really "your" car. Yes, you might have put down 5% of the total purchase price. So you have a title, and legally you own the car. But 95% of the "skin in the game" is the lender's. The car belongs mostly to the lender. Don't like that? Easy solution, don't be a deadbeat. Or save up and pay cash. I agree with the rest of your…
When I pay off the car, does the device get removed, or do I just come to an agreement with the dealer that they won't remotely disable my car or track me? Actually, when I buy a new car with cash, do they remove the device, or are they just lazy and install one in every car?
Re: How technology has redefined the job of the repo man
#9Wow, everything in this article is horrifying: > the rising deployment of remote engine cutoffs and GPS locators in cars Wait, so people can remotely track my car or turn it off? This doesn't sound like a hack away from disaster at all. > The companyʼs goal is to capture every plate in Ohio and use that information to reveal patterns…“Itʼs kind of scary, but itʼs amazing,” said Alana Ferrante, chief executive of Rele…
> the rising deployment of remote engine cutoffs and GPS locators in cars
How is this legal? Cutting off the engine at a bad time could cause horrific accidents, putting the car owner and occupants of surrounding cars in lethal harm.
Where is the class action law suit for this?
Re: How technology has redefined the job of the repo man
#10Wow, everything in this article is horrifying: > the rising deployment of remote engine cutoffs and GPS locators in cars Wait, so people can remotely track my car or turn it off? This doesn't sound like a hack away from disaster at all. > The companyʼs goal is to capture every plate in Ohio and use that information to reveal patterns…“Itʼs kind of scary, but itʼs amazing,” said Alana Ferrante, chief executive of Rele…
Wait, so people can remotely track my car or turn it off? Under those circumstances it's not really "your" car. Yes, you might have put down 5% of the total purchase price. So you have a title, and legally you own the car. But 95% of the "skin in the game" is the lender's. The car belongs mostly to the lender. Don't like that? Easy solution, don't be a deadbeat. Or save up and pay cash. I agree with the rest of your…
It doesn't suddenly become possible when you start missing payments.