What I thought about EZ pass all along...

[cheri1122]

Now that I've read Turtle's link to the Aaron's Computer story, I'm freaking out too - how does this happen, without anyone having to accept responsibility for it? Are businesses able to break the law with near impunity, now?
The experts advise consumers to educate themselves, but who'd even suspect they should ask whether the rental agency is going to be watching you from the webcam, or capturing your keystrokes?!
At least the government can come up with a plausible reason [even if it is exaggerated] for 'spying' on citizens, but what possible reason can a private business have? "Because we can"?

 

[Deville]

The port authority bridges and tunnels record speeding. MY SO got our EZ pass suspended a few years ago for three months because she was also speeding through the booths.

 

[Deville]

I guess the people freaking out didn't read the article, therefore, I'll post this paragraph for the big brother is out to get me crowd.

You can lose your E-Z Pass privileges if you speed through E-Z Pass lanes," says Dan Weiller, director of communications for the New York State Thruway Authority. "You get a couple of warnings. We don't have the power to give a ticket, but we do have to power to revoke your E-Z Pass, which we will."

What Dan isn't telling you is that if that does happen you can open up a new account.

I am more concerned why NYC has put EZ pass readers all over city streets to track traffic patterns and overall movement. Police cars have licence plate readers as well.

 

[Turtle]

I am more concerned why NYC has put EZ pass readers all over city streets to track traffic patterns and overall movement. Police cars have licence plate readers as well.

I'm not sure why tracking traffic patterns and overall movement would be a concern. The system in NY, called Midtown in Motion, includes 100 microwave sensors, 32 traffic video cameras and E-ZPass readers at 23 intersections to measure traffic volumes, congestion and record vehicle travel times in the approximately 110-square block area bound by Second to Sixth Avenues and 42 to 57 streets. The combined data is transmitted wirelessly to the City’s Traffic Management Center in Long Island City, allowing engineers to quickly identify congestion choke points as they occur and remotely adjust Midtown traffic lights to clear traffic jams in real time.

The only real difference between what they do in NYC and other places is the additional data points provided by the EZ Pass transponders. Not only is the traffic movement and patterns used to adjust traffic lights, but the real-time traffic flow information is used by motorists and app developers for use on GPS devices, PDAs and smart phones. When Garmin's Real-Time Traffic informs you of a traffic delay ahead, it's from those types of sensors it gets the information. When those overhead signs in Chicago tell you the The Loop is 15 miles and it's gonna take you 27 minutes to get there, there ya go, that's how they know.

 

[mjmsprt40]

And the NSA is a bunch of boloney, right? SMH.

One has to be totally myopic, to believe that the government isn't destroying our rights. And it does so, in part, by unleashing the alphabet corps upon its own people. And yes, the cameras on computers and gaming consoles can be used to watch their users.

True, the government CAN do these things and probably has. Most people don't do anything of interest where the camera can see them though-- my laptop is in my "home office" so nobody would see much worth writing home about.

What are you doing that would make somebody want to spy on you on an ongoing basis? I don't say this to parrot the mindless "If you're not doing anything wrong you shouldn't worry" nonsense-- I'm just wondering if by chance you do something that would make somebody WANT to "tag" you for further study.

Edit; add-on: For those of us concerned about the cameras and microphones in our laptops, electrical tape and Kleenex tissue works wonders. The camera can't see through that stuff, and the microphone in your laptop is strictly second-rate electronics so a bit of tissue and electrical tape will at least garble any sounds it picks up. Easy and cheap fix foils Dr.Evil again.

 

[Scuba]

In the very beginning the state of Utah took espies to court to be able to access the records to be able to do just what your talking about. To see how fast you got from one toll plaza to another. EzPass made the case that if they were required to give that information up it would be the end of the company because no one would use their service. Or at least not enough to pay for the infrastructure. The courts sided with EzPass in state court and at the appellate level court's. It haven't made it to the USSC as of yet because the state dropped its challenge of the ruling thinking it was unlikely to win in the USSC.

 

[paullud]

If I'm not mistaken there are plenty of places that have scanners along roadways that track signals from cell phones and GPS units as well to see how traffic is flowing. There is nothing tracked to ticket you for speeding. If you get caught speeding through a toll booth with EZ Pass they send a letter saying that if you repeat it they will suspend the use of your EZ Pass. There are no threats of any other fines or penalties.