Do you have an E-ZPass or Smart Tag transponder? What are you doing to protect it? If you are like most people you have simply mounted the device in your front windshield using the Velcro strips provided and left it there. Are you aware that that device is always on and that it is sending out a constant signal? Would you be surprised to know that that information can be hacked?
Security experts are warning that individuals with the right transponder reader can walk through a parking lot and steal the ID number of transponders that are out in the open and visible (that's only partially redundant and repetitive). They can then enter that information into separate devices and use them to go through toll areas with the owner/victim getting the bill. In the event of a crime the owner of the transponder could also end up as a suspect if the toll payments were tracked as part of an investigation as has happened on more than a few occasions. So what can you do about it?
In the San Francisco Bay Area a privacy kit is being manufactured to make their FasTrak devices more secure. The key component is the addition of a "kill switch" that would allow the device to be turned off so no more signals are emitted. That works very well although drivers will have to remember to turn it on when the device is needed. Otherwise you could end up with a long series of nasty-grams from the toll operators who think you are trying to get away without paying up.
Since the kill switch isn't yet available for EZ Pass transponders there is something that you can do; take the mylar pouch in which the device was delivered and put the transponder in it anytime it's not in use. If you are like me, however, you threw out the mylar pouch as soon as you mounted the thing onto the windshield. Fear not. You could use any mylar pouch that you might have around such as the one that can with that new piece of hardware for your computer. Many of us have more than a few of them in the drawer marked "computer bits and pieces." No? You didn't save those either? Then head to the kitchen and get yourself a six-inch strip of aluminum foil. That piece of foil, wrapped around the transponder and secured at the ends, will thwart the bad guys just fine. The only negative is that you might have to replace it every couple of weeks, depending on frequency of use, because foil tends to tear. By the way, there are some people out there who also wrap their building security and/or SmartTrip cards in foil for all of the same reasons. Me, I like to use the foil to make hats that serve as shields so that the government can't implant signals in my head... but that's a different story for a different website.
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We talked a little while ago about the efforts to create more GPS information for those who walk. A rather lengthy article in the Auguest issue of GPS World magazine (the articles are good but the centerfolds are even better) talked about the efforts and the challenges of improving the accuracy of GPS in a dense urban environment. These companies are very serious about creating usable maps down to the smallest possible area so that they are of use to those on foot or on bikes. The problem is that when they start to discuss navigation algorithm overlays, my head starts to really hurt. The bottom line is that better information is coming because there are people actively working on addressing the problem(s).
Steve Eldridge is a long-time reporter, observer and commentator on the Washington region's transportation issues. You can contact him directly by writing to: Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com. Unless otherwise requested, letters or portions of letters can be used within future columns. Letter writers will be identified by their first name and city/neighborhood.
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