page_title: E-ZPass
section_title: Privacy concerns
hierarchical_section_title: E-ZPass / Effects / Privacy concerns
caption_attribution_description: TransCore radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader and antenna. The E-ZPass reader (Encompass 4) is the square device attached to the pole. It also uses horizontally polarized panel antenna (model AA3110-101) on the right to broadcast and receives radio frequency signals to detect E-ZPass tags.
context_page_description: E‑ZPass is an electronic toll collection system used on most tolled roads, bridges, and tunnels in the Midwestern and Eastern United States, as far south as Florida and as far west as Illinois. The E-ZPass Interagency Group consists of 39 member agencies in operation within 17 states, which use the same technology and allow travelers to use the same transponder on toll roads throughout the network. Since its creation in 1987, various independent systems that use the same technology have been folded into the E-ZPass system, including the I-Pass in Illinois and the NC Quick Pass in North Carolina. Negotiations are ongoing for nationwide interoperability in the United States.
context_section_description: Civil liberties and privacy rights advocates have expressed concern about how the position data gathered through E‑ZPass is used. As of August 2007, several states that employ E‑ZPass had provided electronic toll information in response to court orders in civil cases, including divorces and other non-criminal matters.
  Position data is collected by antennas at locations in addition to fee collection locations. The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), for example, collect transponder information to provide real-time estimates of travel times between common destinations. By subtracting the time when vehicles pass under the first sign from the current time, the sign can display the expected travel time between the sign and the destination point ahead. This information is also used to determine the best times to schedule maintenance-related lane closures and for other traffic management purposes. According to NYSDOT, the individual tag information is encrypted, and is deleted as soon as the vehicle passes the last reader, and is never made available to the Department.
caption: RFID E-ZPass reader attached to the pole and its antenna (right) used in traffic monitoring in New York City by using the vehicle re-identification method
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