In article <telecom24.327.2@telecom-digest.org>, monty@roscom.com
says:
> By CHRISTOPHER CALDWELL
> Anyone making long drives this summer will notice a new dimension to
> contemporary inequality: a widening gap between the users of automatic
> toll-paying devices and those who pay cash. The E-ZPass system, as it
> is called on the East Coast, seemed like idle gadgetry when it was
> introduced a decade ago. Drivers who acquired the passes had to nose
> their way across traffic to reach specially equipped tollbooths -- and
> slow to a crawl while the machinery worked its magic. But now the
> sensors are sophisticated enough for you to whiz past them. As more
> lanes are dedicated to E-ZPass, lines lengthen for the saps paying
> cash.
> E-ZPass is one of many innovations that give you the option of trading
> a bit of privacy for a load of convenience. You can get deep discounts
> by ordering your books from Amazon.com or joining a supermarket
> 'club.' In return, you surrender information about your purchasing
> habits. Some people see a bait-and-switch here. Over time, the data
> you are required to hand over become more and more personal, and such
> handovers cease to be optional. Neato data gathering is making society
> less free and less human. The people who issue such warnings --
> whether you call them paranoids or libertarians -- are among those you
> see stuck in the rippling heat, 73 cars away from the ''Cash Only''
> sign at the Tappan Zee Bridge.
Of course when they pry too deeply you can always lie. I do it
regularly with store discount cards, etc. They can have my name, I
don't care about that. But address, phone number, email, etc. if
required will ALWAYS be fudged.
Of course EZ-Pass is linked to a credit or debit card so it would be
trivial to dig for information that way.
And for those of a technical bent, it would be easy to run a bootleg
EZ-Pass. It is after all and RFID device and you could read numbers
all day long and then have your computer equipped RFID device send
random numbers to the sensors.
Tony P. (kd1s@nospamplease.cox.reallynospam.net)