IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2015 - 12

of security to their residents. Ensuring the security of America's automobiles has also taken the shape
of increased surveillance through
CCTV systems and an emphasis
on better lighting in parking areas/
structures. In many ways these infrastructural solutions have proven
effective. However, the authors do
raise pertinent questions about the
intrinsic tradeoffs between systems
of security and surveillance when
measured against American notions
of liberty and freedom.
Illegal car disassembly and parts
selling rings known as "chop shops"
were highly publicized in the past several decades. The problem presented
by chop shops gained visibility and
martialed several legislative responses since the 1970s. These responses
came in the form of mandating an
increase in the use of vehicle identification numbers (VIN numbering)
on more automobile parts as well
as securing more resources for local
police departments to combat auto

Just as professional auto thefts
routinely circumvented new
technology designed to stop
them, modern day hackers
routinely seem to break through
even the most secure systems
designed to keep our data safe.

theft. The technology marketed to
users in this high-tech era ranged
from the very low tech "Club" that
physically immobilized the steering wheel, to the fittingly modern
electronic LoJack system that uses
radio technology to find stolen cars.

Despite these advances, the authors
note that even these devices can
be overcome (like so many of their
predecessors).
In the chapter, "Mexico, the United
States, and International Auto Theft,"
the mostly American-centered focus
of the book shifts to a case study of
international car theft across the border between the United States and
Mexico. Mexico has often offered
an outlet and a demand for stolen
vehicles. Auto theft rings have grown
up alongside the vice industry, which
are now both dominated by the drug
cartels. The international boundary
offered, much as earlier state lines
had, a substantial barrier for enforcement and recovery. The American and
Mexican governments have worked
to curtail some of this theft, but have
not been able to truly cut back on
the black market of cross-border stolen cars. These cars are commonly
referred to as "chocolate cars" in Mexico, which denotes their dubious origins. This chapter is a departure from
the regular narrative flow of
the book, but does offer an
interesting case study that
points to further research on
the topic of international/
transnational auto theft.
In recent years, it seems
that auto theft is depicted
less harshly in the media,
often as a victimless crime.
Heitmann and Morales contend that while actual joyriders have long since faded
from the spotlight, the
advent of computer technology has made millions
of people digital car thieves
and carjackers through
the various iterations of the Grand
Theft Auto videogame franchise.
The authors work to present both
sides of the contentious debate
about videogame violence. One can
see from the evolution of antitheft
technology in the book that stealing
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

a car does require greater technological sophistication on the part
of the thief than ever before. The
chapter even suggests that modern
car thieves might even blur the line
between hacker and car thief.
This argument about car theft as
a form of hacking suggests to this
reader a possible larger analogy
that could be made between the
history of auto theft and the more
recent history of cybersecurity. Just
as professional auto thefts routinely circumvented new technology
designed to stop them, modern day
hackers routinely seem to break
through even the most secure
systems designed to keep our
data safe. In light of the authors'
acknowledgement that auto theft
has declined recently, the thought
arises that the new crime of digital identity theft might provide an
outlet for intelligent criminals and
represent a safer heist than the
automobile of days past. Either way,
parallels can be drawn between
yesterday's technology of freedom
- the automobile, and today's technology of freedom - the Internet.
One can see connections to
Heitmann's previous work The
Automobile in American Life in
which he suggested the need for a
scholarly study of auto theft. Stealing Cars delivers the work Heitmann suggested and contributes
to the history of the automobile by
bringing this novel topic into greater
focus. Its smooth and readable style
answers many questions a generalist audience would want to know
about auto theft, but also should
be read closely by historians of the
automobile and of technology for
ways in which the act of theft and
crime in general can open up a new
area of study. The book could have
gone further in studying automobile
thieves themselves, the structures
(continued on page 15)

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june 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2015