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E-ZPasses Get Read All Over New York (Not Just At Toll Booths)

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Re: E-ZPasses Get Read All Over New York (Not Just At Toll Booths)

#121

Post by fnordfnordfnord »

canvia wrote: post #103
fnordfnordfnord wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I have to disagree with those who say this isn't news. It was never kept a secret in Houston that toll-tags were used to collect data for the real-time traffic map, this system is decades old. http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/aviinfo/avi-tech.html >EZ passes are supposed to be used in one car only so it can't be lack of ability to isolate the user that's stopping it. A car may have more than one user. >For years I…

Do you work for Altoids? (mostly joking)

No, but I am an electronics hardware geek, so Altoids tins are pretty much my second favorite thing.

Re: E-ZPasses Get Read All Over New York (Not Just At Toll Booths)

#122

Post by newman314 »

codex wrote: post #104

Your location in a public place is not a secret. It is not legally protected. This is well established by multiple precedents. Heck, FBI agents can legally place a tracking device on your car, without a warrant if they do so while your car is in a public place ( http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/03/federal-judge-rules-fb... ).

No, it is not.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/01/supreme-court-hol...

Re: E-ZPasses Get Read All Over New York (Not Just At Toll Booths)

#123

Post by shitlord »

IMO, this is actually pretty awesome. Maybe in the future, we can produce new EZPasses that do the same thing, except more privacy-oriented: a pass that reports different Tag IDs to traffic monitoring equipment, but keeps reporting the same Tag ID for 1 hour. Or maybe a piece of hardware that can intercept the EZPass signal on its way to the traffic monitoring equipment.

Everyone hates traffic and loves complaining about it, but I personally haven't seen a lot of work being done to solve it. And yeah, having people take public transportation helps with congestion, but you're not actually solving anything by doing that, only working around the problem. Maybe it's because I've never worked with any DOTs.

Re: E-ZPasses Get Read All Over New York (Not Just At Toll Booths)

#124

Post by emddudley »

fnordfnordfnord wrote: post #66
forgotAgain wrote: post #37

I have to disagree with those who say this isn't news. It was news to me and will, I believe, be news to most others as well. The only time before this that I heard about using EZ pass for anything other than tolls was a few years ago when I read about some feasibility work on the concept of traffic flow optimization being done around Ithaca, NY. I do wonder why they haven't been used yet to track speeding violations…

>I have to disagree with those who say this isn't news. It was never kept a secret in Houston that toll-tags were used to collect data for the real-time traffic map, this system is decades old. http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/aviinfo/avi-tech.html >EZ passes are supposed to be used in one car only so it can't be lack of ability to isolate the user that's stopping it. A car may have more than one user. >For years I…

NY EZ passes do not fit in Altoids tins. The pass is close to square, and its side is about the length of the long side of the tin.

Re: E-ZPasses Get Read All Over New York (Not Just At Toll Booths)

#125

Post by coin »

drjesusphd wrote: post #67
joezydeco wrote: post #39

Wait until people discover your FM car radio also leaks information. Besides the leaky iPod/SatRadio transmitters, the unit itself gives away the station frequency from the internal oscillator. There's a company already sniffing radios on the road to determine listener demographics among other things. http://masscommandme.wordpress.com/2010/12/02/mobiltraks-lis...

Just to clarify, this is not an intentional design feature. Any reciever is necessarily a transmitter due to the physics itself. The UK has been using this for a while to crack down on TV liscences.

There are also radar detector detectors, operating off the same principe - detecting the local oscillator of the receiver.

Re: E-ZPasses Get Read All Over New York (Not Just At Toll Booths)

#126

Post by coin »

pbreit wrote: post #28
dsl wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't keep plates on my car because of the abundance of plate tracking applications in use by the government and private companies.

Isn't that illegal pretty much everywhere?

Steve Jobs constantly drove a new car so that he'd have temporary registration.

Re: E-ZPasses Get Read All Over New York (Not Just At Toll Booths)

#127

Post by diminoten »

Retric wrote: post #60
ChuckMcM wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can we just not go there? There is a qualitative difference between "being in public" and "being recorded while in public" and "being recorded in public over an extended period of time." You take a picture on the beach and catch me in the frame, I'm totally fine with that, you take pictures of that beach every day for a year and then put IDs on every 'face' so that you've got a history of everyone who has been to the…

FYI: You where just trolled. Sure, it feels go to respond, but it's also a waste of everyone's time to read a troll and the responses. It also promotes them making more comments like that. Aka: Don't feed the trolls.

I'm not a troll, I just know there is no legal precedent for this public privacy idea, and that there is no moral grounds for it as a human right.

Someone who's been around here as long as you have should know better than to cry troll so quickly.

Re: E-ZPasses Get Read All Over New York (Not Just At Toll Booths)

#128

Post by kazagistar »

> The DoT was not forthcoming about what exactly was read from the passes or how long geolocation information from the passes was kept.

Listen up kids. Even if your goals are entirely pure and innocent, this sort of BS just makes you look shady. If you wanna do traffic analysis, sanitize your data ASAP, and purge it as soon as you can, and then when people ask, you can answer questions like this with a clear conscience.

Re: E-ZPasses Get Read All Over New York (Not Just At Toll Booths)

#129

Post by diminoten »

alexqgb wrote: post #77
diminoten wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are you against having your car tracked? You're in public, aren't you? Why do you think you have a right to privacy in public?

Don't be a idiot. You should know as well as anyone that simply "being in public" actually preserves a large amount of privacy and anonymity. Consider, for, instance, what would happen if any of the countless people you pass by daily decided to follow your every step, stalking you, recording everything you say and do, waiting for you in the street when you got home, then relentlessly pursuing you again when you leave…

Legally? No, there's no such idea as, "anonymous in public", and no, someone recording you in public isn't harassment. Ask celebrities. The paparazzi get in trouble when they enter into private spaces, but public spaces? Fair game. Always.

And what exactly is your moral argument against it? That your public movements would incriminate you somehow? That's a slippery slope argument - there's no connection between tracking your movements and necessarily indicting you for breaking some law. Besides, if you break a law in public, what the fuck were you thinking?

Re: E-ZPasses Get Read All Over New York (Not Just At Toll Booths)

#130

Post by diminoten »

fnordfnordfnord wrote: post #57
diminoten wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are you against having your car tracked? You're in public, aren't you? Why do you think you have a right to privacy in public?

What kind of stuff do you buy at stores? Mind if I have a look? I mean, you're in public when you buy the stuff. Please post your checking account and credit card statements in the reply. Thanks.

I'll gladly tell you whenever I buy things. My checking account and credit card statements are private, however (this isn't an argument against privacy, don't mistake it as such).

Here are the last... 10 things I bought:

EZPass - $70.00 Roll20.net - $9.99 Potbelly - $4.98 Gold's Gym - $19.99 Potbelly - $4.98 Potbelly - $4.98 Pearl Dive (it's a bar) - $12.90 Chipotle - $3.13 Big Hunt (bar) - $8.00 Madhatter (bar) - $13.90

If you want more, come follow me around a bit. You wouldn't be breaking any law, after all. The fact that I go to potbelly each day, have a Gold's Gym subscription, and went to 3 bars over the last few days isn't private. None of it.

I value privacy, but I also know I don't always have it.

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