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Sarah* couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her new car. Every time she drove further than her kids’ school, it stalled. She took it to the mechanic, who told her he couldn’t find an issue.
It was only when she spoke with a domestic violence frontline worker that she discovered a geofencing kill switch had been set up in the car, setting up a virtual perimeter to stop her car from going more than a few kilometres from home. The mechanic was a friend of her ex-partner and had installed the switch to monitor, control, and intimidate her.
Over 90 per cent of new cars sold in 2031 will have embedded mobile connectivity.Credit: Aresna Villanueva
Sarah’s story is one of thousands reported to the e-Safety Commission’s Technology-Facilitated Abuse Support Service, with smart car technology the latest way abusers are co-opting technology to monitor, control, and abuse victims.
Over 20,000 frontline workers have accessed the service in the year since it was developed, which provides advice and strategies on increasingly complex cases.
Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin: “Wherever a device can be controlled remotely … it can be weaponised”.Credit: Ben Appleton
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant warned connected cars were becoming sophisticated surveillance devices, with abusers remotely tracking partners via the cars’ GPS, changing the heating or cooling to intimidate them, or preventing them from travelling past certain destinations.
“[Abusers] can even lock their former partner out of her car when she’s out at night and see where she’s gone,” Grant said.
“In these situations, an asset that’s crucial for escape is being used as a mechanism to trap and control.”
Over 90 per cent of new cars sold in Australia are estimated to have embedded connectivity by 2031, with Grant calling on manufacturers to build safety mechanisms into vehicles.
These mechanisms include making revoking access and transferring ownership possible during separation without contact with the other party; offering a clear history of account access, including logs of remote commands and location pings that can be exported for evidence; and ensuring retailers and dealerships are trained to reset devices and accounts when a car changes ownership.
“These are solvable design issues. This next generation of automotive technologies means that car manufacturers need their next ‘seatbelt moment’,” she said.
“What’s menacing and insidious is the speed and velocity at which you can harm someone with technology, it is rapid, but you can also be very covert. Technology can be used as a tool and a lifeline, but also as a weapon.”
Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said the support of companies was “vital” to preventing abuse.
“The abuse of women is evolving so rapidly that it’s hard to keep up with the new technologies that are being invented that harass, intimidate, stalk and control women. “Some of this does sound like science fiction,” she said.
“Companies that produce these products need to consider; as they are designing the products, as they are selling them, and as they are marketing them; what safety features can be embedded so that the users of the products can be kept safe.“
Frontline workers have reported cases of abusers locking smart fridges to control what their family eats
Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin said there was a staggering number of devices which could be co-opted for abuse.
“Wherever a device can be controlled remotely, and where multiple people can control it, it can be weaponised,” she said.
Frontline workers have reported cases of abusers locking smart fridges to control what their family eats; abusers monitoring their ex-partners via automatic pet feeder cameras; and using smart TVs to send threatening messages.
“A lot of people aren’t aware that [technology facilitated abuse] is happening to them because it can happen in relationships gradually,” Cronin said.
“It can seem benign … but can have a significant psychological impact on people, where you feel like you’ve lost control of your environment, you feel like you know that you are being stalked, controlled, watched wherever you are, and have no privacy.”
A coroner found last week that Lilie James, who was murdered by 23-year-old Paul Thijssen after she ended their brief relationship, was also a victim of technology-facilitated abuse, with Thijssen monitoring James’ location online and sharing an intimate photo of her without her consent.
The coroner found his behaviour was not recognised as harmful by his friends, pointing to the need for education and awareness around this form of abuse. He had tracked and monitored a partner in a previous relationship.
*Not her real name.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491.
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