What you need to know about EZ-Pass & privacy
Melissa Parrish, a Forrester VP and research director, told the story about how her father (we’ll call him Bob), who lives in New Jersey, was rattled by NJ’s E-ZPass system. “There’s no way I’m giving them my personal information so I can get a pass!” he told his daughter.
Bob had been traveling the toll roads to his NY job for decades, and he had no interest in getting an E-ZPass electronic tag in his car. Yet later, when Bob went to Disney World in Orlando with the grandchildren, he was delighted with Disney’s new MagicBand, and couldn’t stop raving about it.
Given Melissa’s deep knowledge of customer data and how it’s used, she didn’t understand why her father was not okay sharing his personal data with the NJ Turnpike Authority—even though it meant he would save time and money on his daily commute. Yet, Bob was more than willing to let Disney track his every move, check-in to FastPass+ rides, buy food, and get in and out of the park and hotel—all with the swipe of the band on his wrist.
This is the dilemma we all face: How much personal information are we willing to give up to enjoy some of the conveniences offered by technology today? And at what point does cool (like Disney’s MagicBand) cross the line and become creepy (like NJ’s E-ZPass)?
Companies and individuals we do business with have been collecting our personal information for decades – either on paper or electronically. Technically speaking, they’ve been collecting our “small” transactional data (and in some cases, a lot of it). “Big” data has changed this data playing field. “We the people” are now generating an exponential amount of data with all our Facebook photos, Twitter updates, YouTube videos, smartphones, GPS tracking devices, FitBits, and smart home appliances and devices. And yes, even with our E-ZPass electronic tags and MagicBands.
New York drivers recently learned that the E-ZPass devices on their windshields were being used for more than toll booths.
“Puking Monkey,” the internet handle of a New Jersey resident concerned with the loss of privacy on the road, also happens to be an electronics junkie — a dangerous combination for Big Government.
He hacked his RFID-enabled E-ZPass to set off a light and a “moo cow” every time it was being read. Then he drove around New York. His tag got milked multiple times on the short drive from Times Square to Madison Square Garden in midtown Manhattan.
Officials from the New York Department of Transportation offered an explanation for the E-ZPass trackings.
“This measure is part of the Department of Transportation’s overall initiative to bring more live, real-time travel information to the public,” the Department said.
New York is not the only state reading the tags for traffic.
CBS13, a local news provider in Portland, Maine, did a bit of digging to uncover a few other ways E-ZPasses are being used for non-toll purposes.
They had no idea their New York authorities were using their EZ-Pass to spy on them!
"Are you kidding? Do you know how much people are keeping an eye on us today? It's the way of the world today. It's not going to change," tourist Bonnie said.
It had us wanting to know where else in the network of 15 E-ZPass states, including Maine, the little device was being used in this big way.
Maine Turnpike Authority Spokesman Dan Morin told us, "Not here."
"We only know when you're going through specific toll plazas; that's it," Morin said.
So for example, if you get on the turnpike in Kennebunk, and off in Portland, Morin says, they can only track you to those two spots and nowhere in between.
"The E-ZPass is dormant when you're driving down the Maine Turnpike until you approach a certain area around the toll plazas," Morin said.
Here’s what WGME13 found:
You can pay for parking at an Amtrak station in Massachusetts with your E-ZPass and at several airports in the New York area.
Toll records have been court ordered in criminal and civil cases, including divorces
McDonald’s has even experimented with E-ZPass payment options at some drive through locations.
E-Z Pass scammers run tolls, send innocent drivers the bill.
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/were-traveling-speed-cool-creepy
http://gopthedailydose.com/2013/09/19/big-brothers-newest-spying-technique-e-zpass/
http://www.wgme.com/news/features/investigation/stories/ezpass-spying-4.shtml