Ford applies for patent on car that can automatically repossess itself

[ZLoth]

From CNN Business:

The car of the future? Ford applies for patent on car that can automatically repossess itself

Ford has some interesting ideas on what self-driving cars might soon be able to do. Besides freeing us from the tedium of commuting, the company envisions cars that could repossess themselves.

According to a document recently published on the United States Patent and Trademark Office website, Ford said it is considering a system that would allow a car to, on its own, leave you if you stop making your monthly auto payments.

Don't worry, though. The patent hasn't been approved yet. And Ford insists it's just a thought.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

[Roadgeekteen]

This makes me feel uneasy. This goes against my deeply held personal beliefs on society and how the world should run.

[jeffandnicole]

This makes me feel uneasy. This goes against my deeply held personal beliefs on society and how the world should run.

That people shouldn't have to renege on their contractual duties without consequences?

[Roadgeekteen]

This makes me feel uneasy. This goes against my deeply held personal beliefs on society and how the world should run.

That people shouldn't have to renege on their contractual duties without consequences?

The second part is way to political and complicated for this forum. The first part is mostly just I find it off putting. You have a point and I understand though, and I get why Ford is doing this. It seems like something that could be helpful for business and save them money.

[SectorZ]

I can't wait until the first time when someone gets run over by the autonomously moving vehicle while being repossessed and Ford attempts to blame the owner for the incident. Or when they do this on a vehicle paid off because of "clerical error".

I guess their new backronym can be "Fucking Owner Really Delinquent".

Maybe when GM or Stellantis goes bankrupt again the titles to all their property can automatically be repossessed by the US taxpayer.

[jeffandnicole]

This makes me feel uneasy. This goes against my deeply held personal beliefs on society and how the world should run.

That people shouldn't have to renege on their contractual duties without consequences?

The second part is way to political and complicated for this forum. The first part is mostly just I find it off putting. You have a point and I understand though, and I get why Ford is doing this. It seems like something that could be helpful for business and save them money.

Frankly, the world is run as it was stated in your first sentence.  Think of cell phone companies - they could turn off people's phones the instant a payment wasn't made by the due date.  Most companies give generous leeway to their customers.  Even if Ford went thru with a vehicle self-possessing itself, it would probably be months, if not a year or more, before they invoke such a measure.

[hotdogPi]

National Grid will shut off your power after just a few days past the due date as long as it's not during the winter months.

[Roadgeekteen]

National Grid will shut off your power after just a few days past the due date as long as it's not during the winter months.

Vital utilities should never be shut off for any reason. Those include internet (to a lesser extent, especially in the 21st century though), phone, heating, water, etc. We need to come up with a better method as a society to make sure that this stuff never happens.

[hotdogPi]

National Grid will shut off your power after just a few days past the due date as long as it's not during the winter months.

Vital utilities should never be shut off for any reason. Those include internet (to a lesser extent, especially in the 21st century though), phone, heating, water, etc. We need to come up with a better method as a society to make sure that this stuff never happens.

If it is during the winter months, they won't shut it off until it stops being winter. And regarding phones, you can still call 911 if you've missed a payment and they disabled it.

[Roadgeekteen]

National Grid will shut off your power after just a few days past the due date as long as it's not during the winter months.

Vital utilities should never be shut off for any reason. Those include internet (to a lesser extent, especially in the 21st century though), phone, heating, water, etc. We need to come up with a better method as a society to make sure that this stuff never happens.

If it is during the winter months, they won't shut it off until it stops being winter. And regarding phones, you can still call 911 if you've missed a payment and they disabled it.

True, at least that's the case. I do think that utilites should not be commercialized private enterprises though, especially when there is only one option (a monopoly).

[Scott5114]

Yeah, I don't trust a corporation to have enough humans involved in this process to be certain it will be error free and a good idea.

I could see the "self-repossess" function being triggered because someone paid the bill on time but the transfer was a day late because of a bank holiday. Or something weird happening like someone selling the car to someone else and the state being slow in informing the car company of the transfer of title, so you get your car automatically stolen. Or they did get notified and for some reason the system didn't process the notification properly.

At least with a human repo guy you can show the paperwork to try to keep him from taking the car.

Also, what happens if you drive the car somewhere with no signal? Is it going to shut itself down because it thinks you're trying to circumvent the repossess function? I guess they're not interested in selling too many cars in Nevada or Alaska, then. Will you be required to pay for the cell connection so the car can phone home?

Someone said it "would probably be months" before someone pulls the trigger to execute the self-repo function. Maybe so, but there's currently no law requiring that on the books, so all it requires is some beanhead looking to squeeze out a bit more revenue and come to the conclusion that they'll lose less revenue from pissed-off customers than they'd gain in stolen cars to remove the "grace period". And having a grace period doesn't matter at all if the company doesn't own the car anymore but their computer thinks they do. (Then it's even worse–imagine buying a used car and driving it for six months with no issue and then it's suddenly gone. Would your first thought be that the car company stole it?)

[Roadgeekteen]

In a dystopian future, if your house gets foreclosed it will use advanced ai robots to eject you from the house. Or it will give you a 30 minute warning and just burn it down. Sound crazy? Yes, but these are baby steps towards much bigger things. That is the future we will get if technology gets advanced enough and corporations and banks are still running society. I certainly don't want to live in this future.

[Scott5114]

I mean, it's not going to burn it down, because then the bank can't make the money it loaned you back by selling the house to someone else.

Then again, I don't really see the advanced AI coming to take your house being as big of a problem since they would run into the problem of shotgun-wielding homeowners. Most states outside the Northeast give you pretty big leeway by statute to neutralize threats to your home.

[Roadgeekteen]

I mean, it's not going to burn it down, because then the bank can't make the money it loaned you back by selling the house to someone else.

Then again, I don't really see the advanced AI coming to take your house being as big of a problem since they would run into the problem of shotgun-wielding homeowners. Most states outside the Northeast give you pretty big leeway by statute to neutralize threats to your home.

Oops forgot about that. I guess it will just have to eject you using robots. Like in the future, maybe we have robots to do your chores. If your house gets foreclosed than maybe the robots will come kick you out.

[Scott5114]

That wouldn't work because then smart people just wouldn't have that kind of robot. Are you doing your MMM impression?

[SectorZ]

In a dystopian future, if your house gets foreclosed it will use advanced ai robots to eject you from the house. Or it will give you a 30 minute warning and just burn it down. Sound crazy? Yes, but these are baby steps towards much bigger things. That is the future we will get if technology gets advanced enough and corporations and banks are still running society. I certainly don't want to live in this future.

At least home foreclosures are a very advanced and lengthy court situation. They can't just kick you out when you're a week behind.

Back in 2013, I had a second mortgage on my own home. The holder of said mortgage was offering payoffs of like 8% of the balance of the loan, but when I asked they said they wouldn't for me because I was up to date with payments. I fixed that problem by not paying for two months. My house was at no risk of going anywhere, and after that two months I got the 8% buyout offer and even got them to remove the missed payments from my credit.

In short, it would take massive change to foreclosure laws to allow it to be like the car repossession world.

[Roadgeekteen]

That wouldn't work because then smart people just wouldn't have that kind of robot. Are you doing your MMM impression?

The bank will send a robot into your house and drag you out.

[SectorZ]

That wouldn't work because then smart people just wouldn't have that kind of robot. Are you doing your MMM impression?

You know, because it's already three letters, you likely summoned him just by saying his name once.

[skluth]

Ford can apply for the patent. But what will it do for sales? Since it's a patent, no other company will bother paying Ford to put this "feature" in their vehicles. I know I wouldn't buy a car with this "feature" if given a choice. It may be useful for leased vehicles to try to return a vehicle after its lease expires. But I see all sorts of problems with this, including the possibility of someone hacking the automaker's site and stealing peoples' cars even if the owners paid cash.

[Scott5114]

That wouldn't work because then smart people just wouldn't have that kind of robot. Are you doing your MMM impression?

The bank will send a robot into your house and drag you out.

And you could shoot it in the CPU because you didn't recognize it as an agent of a valid authority with rights to enter your home.

There's a reason evictions are done by the sheriff.

[jeffandnicole]

That wouldn't work because then smart people just wouldn't have that kind of robot. Are you doing your MMM impression?

You know, because it's already three letters, you likely summoned him just by saying his name once.

Beetlejuice...Beetlejuice...

[hotdogPi]

The way to summon someone is to prepend an "@" symbol before their name, except that doesn't work on this forum.

[Roadgeekteen]

That wouldn't work because then smart people just wouldn't have that kind of robot. Are you doing your MMM impression?

The bank will send a robot into your house and drag you out.

And you could shoot it in the CPU because you didn't recognize it as an agent of a valid authority with rights to enter your home.

There's a reason evictions are done by the sheriff.

Who says that the sheriff has to be a human  ?

[Scott5114]

The way to summon someone is to prepend an "@" symbol before their name, except that doesn't work on this forum.

That only works if they are an array and not a scalar or hash. (So maybe it would work on @jeffandnicole since presumably one of them is $jeffandnicole[0] and the other is $jeffandnicole[1].)

Who says that the sheriff has to be a human  ?

The state constitution, usually.

In Oklahoma, the requirements are:
- Must be at least 25 years old.
- Must possess a high school diploma or an equivalent GED (General Educational Development) certificate.
- Must have worked in the capacity of a duly certified peace officer for at least 4 years.
- Must be an Oklahoma resident for at least 2 years.
- Must be a registered voter of the county in which he/she seeks nomination.

It's hard to see how one could make a robot that would meet those qualifications.

[US 89]

There is also the possibility that Russian or Chinese hackers could get into Ford's database and repo everyone's cars all at once. What a shitshow that would be.