So it’s troubling, for example, that the New York City Department of Transportation stated in response to the FOIL that it had no policies or training materials on storage, retention, destruction or use of the information collected from its E-ZPass readers. There should also be strong privacy policies, made readily accessible to the public, that ensure that the data is anonymous and that it cannot be used for any purpose other than for the traffic study. They should also notify the public of a way to opt out (e.g., is it sufficient to put the tag in a cover provided by E-ZPass?). While traffic management is certainly an important goal, when government agencies engage in this kind of technology-driven data collection, they should make sure that the public knows that their data is being scanned and used for purposes other than what the data was originally intended to be used for (in this case, toll collection). There should be strong privacy policies, made readily accessible to the public, that ensure that the data is anonymous. Outside of New York City, the State Department of Transportation in partnership with other entities has set up a similar traffic management program that scans E-ZPass tags on major transportation corridors, away from toll plazas. By July 2014, that program had expanded to 149 E-ZPass readers around the city. Under a program called Midtown in Motion, for example, the city Department of Transportation initially installed 100 microwave sensors, 32 traffic video cameras and E-ZPass readers at 23 intersections to measure traffic volumes and congestion. What we’ve learned is that both city and state transportation agencies have set up E-ZPass readers around the state as part of technology-based traffic management programs. Source: New York City Department of Transportation FOIL Production (July 11, 2014). Location of E-ZPass Readers in New York City The systematic placement of the E-Zpass readers can be clearly seen in these maps Earlier this week, the NYCLU released the result of that investigation (part of a new webpage that hosts records obtained through FOIL requests on how government agencies are collect information on New Yorkers). This prompted us to file New York Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests to find out why E-ZPass readers had been installed far from any toll booths for some purpose unrelated to their intended use, and what privacy protections, if any, were in place. We listened as the cow mooed its way through Midtown and Lower Manhattan - though we weren’t at any toll plazas, something was reading the E-ZPass tag in our car.

In late 2013, NYCLU staff went on a car ride with a privacy activist who designed a cow-shaped device that mooed every time it detected signals on the same frequency that E-ZPass readers use. New documents obtained by the New York Civil Liberties Union reveal that wireless E-ZPass tollbooth transponders are being read routinely throughout New York City to systematically collect location data about drivers.Īt the NYCLU, we were surprised when we first heard this might be happening.

Ny easy pass