We’re accustomed to seeing EZ pass readers at bridges, tunnels and highway toll plazas. However, it was recently discovered that these transponders have been deployed throughout New York City to track the movement of vehicles. The data is fed to a traffic control center in Long Island City to ease gridlock (although many suspect that it is being used in other ways including locating a “fast and furious” Manhattan speeder).
A New Jersey motorist who anonymously posted a YouTube video under the handle defconpukingmonkey rigged his EZ pass so that it would make an audio warning every time he drove pass an EZ pass reader. He quickly un-covered that these readers, manufactured by Transcore, are deployed throughout the City. New York is apparently the ONLY state to use EZ pass readers outside of tolls collection locations.
Bottom line: With EZ readers, facial-recognition software and other devices, people no longer have the privacy and anonymity that they once had.
