In case someone asks why I changed the headline, the answer is the 'Big brother' headline is what appeared in giant bold font on the front page of the Dec. 8, 1999 SunTimes, for whatever reason this was not in the SunTimes internet archives. Considering it is entirely appropriate to the content of this article, I chose to include it.

In further reference to the following article, it obviously is not directly related to y2k, however as we have discussed, y2k does not happen in a vaccum, & IMO the loss of privacy & freedoms we have been experiencing as a nation is a part of the big picture. Also, there are a few folks here that have provided valuable info & insight at this forum that I know will be interested in this article I wanted to share it with them.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/bears/toll08.html

New I-Pass system to track drivers

December 8, 1999

BY ABDON M. PALLASCH SUBURBAN REPORTER

The Chicago area tollways debuted a new traffic-tracking system this week that's already sparking "Big Brother"-type privacy concerns because it keeps tabs on individual drivers.

The new system tracks the devices that allow 260,000 I-Pass holders to zoom through tollbooths and have their prepaid toll accounts automatically debited.

The idea was to track these cars between tollbooths to see how fast traffic is moving, not, say, to see who's speeding, tollway officials said.

"Are you going to look and see how long it takes someone to get from Irving Park Road to 22nd Street?" asked state Sen. Thomas Walsh (R-La Grange Park), a member of the tollway system's advisory board.

Tollway system Chairman Art Philip said that won't happen.

"We can't write you a ticket--we wouldn't do that," said Philip, adding, with a laugh, "We won't tell your new wife where you're at."

But the records could be subpoenaed to show where someone was on a given day, tollway officials acknowledged after questions about the system were raised this week by members of the tollway advisory board.

"It is a feeling of `Big Brother is watching you,' " said attorney Regina Narusis, a member of the board who asked whether prosecutors or divorce lawyers could subpoena the records to show where a motorist was at a given time.

"We have to comply with a subpoena, if it's current," acknowledged Neal McDonald, director of I-Pass, the tollways' electronic payment system.

I-Pass works like this: You put down a $25 deposit and get a small device that rests on the inside windshield and subtracts 40 cents from your account each time your car passes through a tollbooth. For $2 a month, motorists can get a monthly printout of their toll activity in the mail. The toll authority purges those records after a few months, McDonald said.

But until that happens, "Sure, you'd have to turn it in in response to a subpoena," said University of Chicago law Professor Al Alschuler. "You don't have a reasonable expectation of privacy regarding your movements in a public space. I could watch you from a helicopter. That doesn't mean it doesn't raise privacy concerns. We are being watched by Big Brother more and more: drunk-driving roadblocks, illegal-alien roadblocks, cameras that check speeders."

Electronic toll records have been subpoenaed in other states, said Phil Agre, a UCLA communications professor who studies privacy issues. New York police were able to track down kidnappers who sped off with their victim in the man's own car and went through an electronic tollbooth, he said.

People already have their purchases cataloged every time they use a discount grocery card, said Chicago attorney David J. Loundy.

"There have already been cases where they have subpoenaed records in slip-and-fall cases to see if you're buying a lot of alcohol, or what have you," said Loundy, who specializes in privacy issues. The tollway monitoring "is a privacy concern because you are carrying a transmitter in your car, and they are logging it. And the uses they could put that to are probably more than the people who signed up for it ever thought of."

The new information the tollway authority is collecting keeps track of I-Pass drivers in "real time." But it's encrypted, so tollway workers won't know who is speeding or crawling between tollbooths at a given moment.

It eventually is transmitted to the tollway's business office, where the tollway staff keeps it in case drivers call to check on their accounts, McDonald said.

About a quarter of the cars on the system on any given day have I-Pass devices. Another 600 join each week.

[end]

Isn't that special? I-Pass is not manditory (yet), and did you catch the part where people pay cash to lose more of their privacy?

Questions: Does anyone outside of Illinois currently live with this system in place? What about the cameras? In the Chicago area there are tons of cameras mounted on buildings etc. - I personally believe they monitor more than traffic- because of times when those building mounted cameras have been used to show footage on 'news' or catch criminals. [reminds me of Fahrenheit 451, I think I have read too much science fiction. lol]

I personally really resent yet another loss of privacy even though I really don't have anything to hide. I am one of 'those people' that refuse to shop at those stores that require a card to receive sale prices etc. Apparently the day may be coming when I don't drive on the toll roads either!!lol

Anyway, I though it might be interesting to see what other cities/states have similar programs etc.

-- Deborah (infowars@yahoo.com), December 09, 1999

Answers

"You don't have a reasonable expectation of privacy regarding your movements in a public space.

And given what we know about internet tracking, phone tapping, and listening devices that can record off the vibrations of windows in your home, you don't have a "reasonable expectation of privacy" even in your private spaces.

Sigh.

Lets hope all that Big Brother technology isn't Y2K compliant. Yes, I know... if ANYTHING is compliant, that will be. Big sigh.

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), December 09, 1999.

You ain't seen nothin' yet. Here's a New Scientist article about automated surveillance tools to detect "abnormal" behaviour and collate info from a whole bunch of cameras.

-- Rob (rob@planet.rob), December 09, 1999.

MOST of the cameras are for private security monitoring of the exterior of the building. the tapes on the news are provided by the private security companies. SO??

C

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), December 09, 1999.

Chuck,

So perhaps nothing, now. ;-) (also those are not really the cameras I was referring to, I was thinking more of the ones on bridges etc. that monitor traffic, & the ones that various news stations have placed around the city, not the ones in our local 7-11, airport, gov. building etc. I am not a very talented writer.)

Perhaps I should have posted this on the Humpty Dumpty forum, it seems to have more to do with how we handle technology as a whole in our society and the outcomes which may have very negative consequences in the future. The wake up call that y2k should be giving us in relation to technology.

The article Rob posted a link to is definately worth a read. (thanks Rob)

An excerpt:

n places such as the City of London--the capital's main business area--CCTV cameras are so widespread that it's difficult to avoid them. With such blanket coverage, and as it becomes possible to track a person from one camera to the next, it would be relatively easy to "tail" people remotely, logging automatically their meetings and other activities. Maybank and his colleagues worry about this type of use. "This is something that will have to be considered by society as a whole," he say

....Simon Davies, director of the human rights group Privacy International, is scathing about the technology. "This is a very dangerous step towards a total control society," he says. For one thing, somebody has to decide what "normal behaviour" is, and that somebody is likely to represent a narrow, authoritarian viewpoint. "The system reflects the views of those using it," he argues. Anyone who does act out of the ordinary will be more likely than now to be approached by security guards, which will put pressure on them to avoid standing out. "The push to conformity will be extraordinary," Davies says. "Young people will feel more and more uncomfortable if that sort of technology becomes ubiquitous. (snip)

I simply am noticing a trend. IMO we need to be very careful about how technology is handled legally and the differing ways it is implemented because these things can have potentially serious implications for those of us who wish to remain in a free society.

A two digit date field was never intended to be a possible risk to human life or society & these cameras & 'smart technologies' may not be intended for harmful purposes, but we need to look to the future. We need to see potential problems & protect ourselves as a society legally before it is too late.

I personally do not fear the Federal Gov., but I was taught that we need to guard our liberty. The situation we may find ourselves in, in the future (10, 20, 100 years from now) may be dramatically different. How could we defend ourselves, if we were in a situation in which every move we make is monitored &/or recorded?

So Chuck, as I wrote earlier, I really don't have anything to hide, and this system as it stands today is basically harmless where I personally am concerned. I can't help but wonder what it will look like for my children & my children's children.

I wasn't trying to post a hysterical paranoid rant, I am only trying to understand how far these things have crept into our communities and what can be done on a proactive level to assure that they are used for good & not evil. I believe it is my responsibity as an American & as a parent.

-- Deborah (infowars@yahoo.com), December 09, 1999.

Interesting sight:

Privacy International

-- Deborah (infowars@yahoo.com), December 09, 1999.

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oops, this one should be better.

Privacy International

-- Deborah (infowars@yahoo.com), December 09, 1999.

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