| -Caveat Lector-
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-toll07.html I-Pass has a new role: I spy October 7, 2002 BY ROBERT C. HERGUTH TRANSPORTATION REPORTER Marketed as a congestion-fighting instrument on the tollways, I-Pass has taken on another role in recent years: an investigative tool in crime probes, administrative proceedings and even a divorce. Since early 2000, the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority has fielded at least 10 subpoenas from private lawyers and public agencies looking for I-Pass records of certain drivers, according to documents obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. The agency has turned over the data--including the dates, times, amounts and locations of toll transactions paid with the electronic toll payment system--when available, officials said. Tollway officials don't believe there were any such requests before 2000, even though I-Pass records were available since the introduction of the system in 1993. A Joliet man believed his wife was cheating on him, but that wasn't why he decided to have his divorce attorney subpoena the toll authority for her I-Pass records. "There was a child custody thing going on, and I wanted to prove that she was never home ... because she was working," the man said. "Her I-Pass records would show when and where she was driving. "What time she came home at night, 7, 8 was not uncommon, 9 p.m. wasn't uncommon, and sometimes she would leave early in the morning," he said. "All things she couldn't be doing if she was the sole caregiver." In other cases: *Earlier this year, the Judicial Inquiry Board--as part of a misconduct probe that is now over--subpoenaed the records from a Lexus belonging to a controversial Cook County judge assigned to the Bridgeview courthouse. *In January, DuPage County prosecutors ordered the tollway to turn over I-Pass account information for an Elgin man indicted last week for allegedly stealing more than $10,000 on Christmas Eve from his employer, TGIFriday's in Darien. *Attorneys for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration also demanded I-Pass records for one vehicle, but after consulting the agency, the tollway refused to release the contents of the DEA subpoena "to safeguard their investigation." *The FBI, Chicago inspector general's office, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and Industrial Commission also subpoenaed I-Pass accounts. As I-Pass becomes more popular--900,000 cars and trucks now subscribe, with thousands of drivers signing up each week--and as lawyers and investigators become more savvy to its capacity for tracking movement, more requests are expected. Privacy advocates say this takes on a "Big Brother" feel and is one of the latest indications that our actions are increasingly monitored and recorded through technology. But to law enforcement officials and some private attorneys, I-Pass is a welcome tool in verifying alibis, piecing together the route of a suspect or, as happened two years ago during a court case over an alleged "road rage" incident, trying to disprove someone's version of events. First Assistant DuPage County State's Attorney John Kinsella sees the privacy concerns as "a much larger public policy question." "As far as we're concerned on the law enforcement side, it's information that's available, and it should be used when it can to help solve a case," he said, adding that it's rare when I-Pass records will be relevant to a case. He wouldn't say if it helped secure the indictment against Gary Witz, the Elgin man who was the kitchen manager at TGIFriday's. I-Pass works like this: Drivers deposit money in an account and get a small windshield-mounted device called a transponder. Each time they pass through a tollbooth, with help from the transponder, the charge is automatically deducted, meaning drivers can pass through without having to dig for change or even stop. Although tollway officials said personal I-Pass statements have always been available to law enforcement agencies and lawyers with subpoenas and court orders, it wasn't until recently that anyone asked. The turning point came in late 1999, when a new system allowed the toll authority to track transponders in "real time" to monitor traffic flow. It raised privacy questions, and the tollway divulged publicly that, just as I-Pass users can obtain records of their transactions dating back at least a year, so could outside interests with a subpoena or court order. The toll authority apparently misunderstood the Joliet man's request for his wife's I-Pass records, sending him a letter about something else instead, he said. But in the end, he didn't need his now ex-wife's account information; before he could resubmit his request to the authority, she agreed to share custody of their son, he said. "It could have [been beneficial] because I definitely would have proven my case," he said of I-Pass. "I'm very creative, and I can look at things from a different angle. I knew it kept track of every time she passed through."I can be sneaky."Contributing: Dan Rozek <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om |
