Digital Smarts - A Spy System for Your Car

Dashcams (on board cameras) are slowly being adopted by Americans for their cars; perhaps you’ve seen some footage of road rage incidents or near miss accidents caught on such devices. One of the newest dashcams, LyfeLens, comes with two cameras and a microphone that continuously record while you’re in the driver’s seat — and even when you’re not —then uploads the resulting photos and video footage to the cloud. It also acts as a Wi-Fi hotspot and can send push notifications. Its onboard GPS and ability to connect to the Internet means you can access the two cameras remotely, and in real time, through your smartphone or Web browser.

So why would you want to do that? Say you’ve lent your car to your teen. LyfeLens will send you a notification if they exceed the speed limit or drive somewhere they aren’t allowed to go. You can also call up a live stream, viewing everything the LyfeLens can see. If a thief breaks into your vehicle, the motion sensors will catch the person in the act — and even if he or she damages or removes the LyfeLens, you’ve got their image on camera. This new breed of dash camera turns your car into a rolling surveillance platform.