Vehicle location data

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Vehicle location data is the big data collection of vehicle locations, including automatic vehicle location data. This usually includes times and often photographs as well. [1] [2] Common methods of data collection include automatic number plate recognition of vehicle registration plates from images collected by cameras mounted on vehicles or fixtures along roads, [1] [2] [3] [4] as well as radio-frequency identification (RFID) from dedicated short-range communications transponders [5] [6] (such as those used for electronic toll collection and parking lots). Databases of this information may be maintained by government or private entities. Private companies use vehicle location data for vehicle repossession and consumer profiling. [1] Government databases have been subjected to legal orders for location data. [6] [7] Access may be restricted to use in criminal cases, but may also be available for civil cases, such as divorce. [7]

Contents

Automatic number plate recognition

Vehicle registration plates may be automatically scanned with equipment, mountable on vehicles, that identifies an image characteristic of a registration plates, takes a photograph, and reads and records the registration number. [1] Such scanning may be done by government [1] [2] or private industry. [1] [3] [4] Private industry collects this information for profit through, directly or indirectly, activities such as consumer profiling and repossession. [1] [4] Companies have collected over 1 billion scans of registration plates in the United States, [4] stored in multiple national databases.

Transponders

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) read from dedicated short-range communication transponders voluntarily obtained by citizens for electronic toll collection enable recording of time and location data at toll crossings. [7] Scanning equipment has also been installed at additional, non-toll locations, [8] [5] enabling further data collection. Transponders have also been hacked, allowing reading and tracking by unauthorized parties. [9] [10]

Privacy concerns

The American Civil Liberties Union issued a report on license plate tracking, finding that the vast majority of scans collected are the vehicles of innocent persons. [11] [3] [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

Transponder device that emits an identifying signal in response to a received signal

In telecommunication, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a portmanteau of transmitter and responder. It is variously abbreviated as XPDR, XPNDR, TPDR or TP.

Toll road Roadway for which a fee (or toll) is assessed for passage

A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and maintenance.

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electromagnetic interrogation pulse from a nearby RFID reader device, the tag transmits digital data, usually an identifying inventory number, back to the reader. This number can be used to track inventory goods.

Electronic toll collection

Electronic toll collection (ETC) is a wireless system to automatically collect the usage fee or toll charged to vehicles using toll roads, HOV lanes, toll bridges, and toll tunnels. It is a faster alternative which is replacing toll booths, where vehicles must stop and the driver manually pays the toll with cash or a card. In most systems, vehicles using the system are equipped with an automated radio transponder device. When the vehicle passes a roadside toll reader device, a radio signal from the reader triggers the transponder, which transmits back an identifying number which registers the vehicle's use of the road, and an electronic payment system charges the user the toll. A major advantage is the driver does not have to stop, reducing traffic delays. Electronic tolling is cheaper than a staffed toll booth, reducing transaction costs for government or private road owners. The ease of varying the amount of the toll makes it easy to implement road congestion pricing, including for high-occupancy lanes, toll lanes that bypass congestion, and city-wide congestion charges. The payment system usually requires users to sign up in advance and load money into a declining-balance account, which is debited each time they pass a toll point.

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 (IAG) 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.

Outerbridge Crossing Bridge between New Jersey and New York

The Outerbridge Crossing, also known as the Outerbridge, is a cantilever bridge that spans the Arthur Kill between Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and Staten Island, New York. It carries New York State Route 440 (NY 440) and New Jersey Route 440, with the two roads connecting at the state border near the bridge's center. The Outerbridge Crossing is one of three vehicular bridges connecting New Jersey with Staten Island, and like the others, is maintained and operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The others are the Bayonne Bridge, which connects Staten Island with Bayonne, and the Goethals Bridge.

FasTrak Toll company

FasTrak is the electronic toll collection (ETC) system used in the state of California in the United States. The system is used statewide on all of the toll roads, toll bridges, and high-occupancy toll lanes along the California Freeway and Expressway System.

SunPass Electronic toll collection system in Florida, United States

SunPass is an electronic toll collection system within the U.S. state of Florida. It was created by the Florida Department of Transportation's Office of Toll Operations, now a division of Florida's Turnpike, in 1999. The system utilizes windshield-mounted RFID transponders manufactured by TransCore and lane equipment designed by companies including TransCore, SAIC, and Raytheon. SunPass is fully interoperable with E-Pass, O-Pass, LeeWay and the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) toll roads.

Floating car data (FCD) in traffic engineering and management is typically timestamped geo-localization and speed data directly collected by moving vehicles, in contrast to traditional traffic data collected at a fixed location by a stationary device or observer. In a physical interpretation context, FCD provides a Lagrangian description of the vehicle movements whereas stationary devices provide an Eulerian description. The participating vehicle acts itself consequently as a moving sensor using an onboard GPS receiver or cellular phone. The most common and widespread use of FCD is to determine the traffic speed on the road network. Based on these data, traffic congestion can be identified, travel times can be calculated, and traffic reports can be rapidly generated. In contrast to stationary devices such as traffic cameras, number plate recognition systems, and induction loops embedded in the roadway, no additional hardware on the road network is necessary.

EZ TAG

EZ TAG is an electronic toll collection system in Houston, Texas, United States, that allows motorists to pay tolls without stopping at toll booths. Motorists with the tags are allowed to use lanes reserved exclusively for them on all Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA) roads. As of late 2003 the EZ TAG can also be used on all lanes of tolled roadways in Texas that accommodate electronic toll collection.

I-Pass

I-Pass is the electronic toll collection system utilized by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) on its toll highways that launched on November 18, 1993, with the opening of Interstate 355. It uses the same transponder as the E-ZPass system used in the Northeastern US, the Chicago Skyway, and the Indiana Toll Road, along with the Indiana State Road 912 Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal bridge.

Automatic number-plate recognition

Automatic number-plate recognition is a technology that uses optical character recognition on images to read vehicle registration plates to create vehicle location data. It can use existing closed-circuit television, road-rule enforcement cameras, or cameras specifically designed for the task. ANPR is used by police forces around the world for law enforcement purposes, including to check if a vehicle is registered or licensed. It is also used for electronic toll collection on pay-per-use roads and as a method of cataloguing the movements of traffic, for example by highways agencies.

Open road tolling

Open road tolling (ORT), also called all-electronic tolling, cashless tolling, or free-flow tolling, is the collection of tolls on toll roads without the use of toll booths. An electronic toll collection system is usually used instead. The major advantage to ORT is that users are able to drive through the toll plaza at highway speeds without having to slow down to pay the toll. In some installations, ORT may also reduce congestion at the plazas by allowing more vehicles per hour/per lane. The disadvantage to ORT is the possibility of "leakage"; that is, "violators" who do not pay. Leakage may either be written off as an expense by the toll operator, or offset in part or whole by fees and fines collected against the violators.

Highway 6 (Israel)

Highway 6, also known as the Trans-Israel Highway or Cross-Israel Highway, is a major electronic toll highway in Israel. Highway 6 is the first Israeli Build-Operate-Transfer road constructed, carried out mainly by the private sector in return for a concession to collect tolls on the highway for a given number of years. It is also one of the largest infrastructure projects undertaken in Israel.

Good to Go (toll collection system)

Good to Go, stylized as Good To Go!, is the electronic toll collection system used by the Washington State Department of Transportation on all current toll projects in the U.S. state of Washington. Good to Go customers prepay a balance into an account and the tolls are then electronically deducted as the customer passes through an electronic toll collection location. Vehicles that are not linked to an account are photographed and a toll bill is sent to the registered owner by U.S. mail. The system debuted in July 2007 on the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge and is a part of the high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes on State Route 167, which opened in the spring of 2008. All-electronic tolling began on the SR 520 Bridge on December 29, 2011. The Good to Go system is similar to other electronic tolling technology already in place around the country such as FasTrak in California and E-ZPass in the eastern United States.

Video tolling

Video tolling is a form of electronic toll collection, which uses video or still images of a vehicle's license plate to identify a vehicle liable to pay a road toll. The system dispenses with collection of road tolls using road-side cash or payment card methods, and may be used in conjunction with "all electronic" open road tolling, to permit drivers without an RFID device to use the toll road.

i-Zoom

i-Zoom was the former name for the electronic toll collection system used on the Indiana Toll Road (ITR), which now uses the E-ZPass system. On June 27, 2007, the system was implemented from mile 1 to mile 23 of the road under the unique branding of "i-Zoom", which was fully compatible with E-ZPass and the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority's I-Pass system; the remaining toll plazas came online on April 1, 2008, with increased cash toll rates. i-Zoom transponders were then made available for purchase at service plazas and CVS/pharmacy locations in northern Indiana. As of September 2012, the i-Zoom branding was retired by the ITR for the universal E-ZPass branding used by most states in the E-ZPass system; outside of the implementation of a transponder with a smaller form factor and the removal of the i-Zoom logo from post-September 2012 transponder units, along with a website upgrade in 2014, no other changes to transponders or accounts are planned.

e-TAG

e-TAG is a free-flow tolling electronic toll collection system used on all tollways throughout Australia. It was originally developed by Transurban for use on their CityLink tollway in the late 1990s, with the system since adopted by all toll roads, bridges and tunnels in Australia. The technology has different names depending on the issuer - such as Eastlink, Linkt (Queensland), E-toll and E-way, however these are all interchangeable across Australia and no surcharges apply for use on other operators' toll roads.

PrePass is an intelligent transportation system (ITS) that electronically verifies the safety, credentials, and weight of commercial vehicles at participating state highway weigh stations. Because they comply electronically, commercial carriers enrolled in PrePass are authorized to bypass these facilities rather than pull in for manual inspection.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Julia Angwin; Valentino-DeVries, Jennifer (29 September 2012). "New Tracking Frontier: Your License Plates". online.wsj.com. Wall Street Journal . Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 Winston, Ali (26 June 2013). "License-plate readers let police collect millions of records on drivers". cironline.org. Center for Investigative Reporting . Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 Pilkington, Ed (17 July 2013). "Millions of US license plates tracked and stored, new ACLU report finds". guardian.co.uk. London: The Guardian . Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Aegerter, Gil (19 July 2013). "License plate data not just for cops: Private companies are tracking your car". investigations.nbcnews.com. NBC News . Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  5. 1 2 Lutz, Jaime (8 May 2013). "Big Brother has it 'E-Z': City now tracking cars through local streets thanks to E-ZPass". www.brooklynpaper.com. The Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  6. 1 2 Tynan, Dan (2010-06-27). "Location-Tracking Services: Why You Should Think Twice". www.pcworld.com. PC World . Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  7. 1 2 3 Newmarker, Chris (10 August 2007). "Adultery has a new monitor: E-ZPass". usatoday.com. USA Today . Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  8. ↑ Hill, Kashmir (12 September 2013). "E-ZPasses Get Read All Over New York (Not Just At Toll Booths)". Forbes . Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  9. ↑ Mills, Elinor (6 August 2008). "Security expert explains how data can be stolen off electronic toll devices and how people can be tracked in real time". news.cnet.com. CNET Networks . Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  10. ↑ Lawson, Nate (7 August 2008). "FasTrak talk summary and slides". rdist.root.org. Root Labs. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  11. ↑ "You Are Being Tracked: How License Plate Readers Are Being Used to Record Americans' Movements". www.aclu.org. American Civil Liberties Union . Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  12. ↑ Sullivan, Bob (17 July 2013). "ACLU: Digital dragnet ensnares millions of innocent drivers". NBC News . Retrieved 13 February 2019.
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