Tollway drivers even pay a discounted rate when they use I-Pass instead of tossing loose change into the toll basket.
The Illinois Tollway reported it has issued 6.8 million I-Pass transponders, and that 90% of all toll transactions are now electronic. Rod Blagojevich campaigned on bringing open-road tolling to Illinois in 2005 to reduce congestion and speed up toll payments. “It’s dangerous we’re accumulating when there’s no protection of it and it can be subpoenaed so easily.” “The perfect storm of loopholes”Įx-Gov. “When the tollway first came out with the transponders, and I heard people talking about how it was going to be used to track us and it was dangerous, I laughed those ideas off as conspiracy theories,” Ellen said. It’s how readily available so much of her information was to someone she’d gone to great lengths to block from her life. “We do not share customer information with third parties including individuals, marketers, retailers or vendors unless compelled to by a court order or other court process.”Įllen said she isn’t concerned that the tollway tracks her movements. “The Illinois Tollway works tirelessly to protect the information of our customers,” Rozek wrote. Tollway attorneys, he wrote, “take great care in carefully handling customer information and ensuring the Illinois Tollway adheres to applicable law.” In one, Illinois Tollway Executive Director José Alvarez said he’s “very open and interested in working with lawmakers” and vowed to examine I-Pass privacy issues.Īdditionally, Illinois Tollway spokesman Daniel Rozek wrote in an email that all state agencies - including the tollway - must comply with subpoenas, according to state law. The agency did not address a list of WBEZ’s questions for this story, but responded with written statements. It’s not clear whether the tollway has ever rejected any subpoena for its customers’ data. I would call it mission creep,” she said. “It should not be a system that allows the government to turn over to private litigants detailed information about your whereabouts, and to the extent that it is, people should know that. “This is supposed to be a program that collects money for when you drive on the roads,” said Karen Sheley, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. One veteran divorce lawyer said there’s a “treasure trove” of data available to anyone who can file a lawsuit and write a subpoena. WBEZ obtained 117 subpoena requests from a 14-month timeframe made by local police departments, federal prosecutors and even private divorce attorneys looking to track what their clients’ exes are up to.īut a case like Ellen’s has some privacy advocates raising questions about the ease with which someone’s movements and private information can be accessed through the tollway. The Illinois Tollway regularly receives court-enforced requests for information - called subpoenas - relating to drivers’ movements on the roads. “It’s scary when these government agencies, like the tollway or places that have what feels like nearly unlimited access to my whereabouts or my child’s whereabouts, are careless with the information,” she said. Ellen’s ex-boyfriend also requested similar private information about her parents, and the tollway turned all of it over - without ever notifying Ellen or her family.
#IPASS TOLLWAY LICENSE#
The tollway complied with that legal request, and also turned over information about Ellen’s new cell phone number, email address, credit card and license plate. That’s because he opened a court case to which Ellen wasn’t even a party, then subpoenaed the Illinois Tollway for I-Pass transponder records that would show her movements on the state’s tollways. She even bought a new car with a new license plate - all to make it harder for her troublesome ex to contact her.īut a few months later, Ellen’s ex obtained all that information - and much more - without her knowing. With the order of protection in place, Ellen said she also changed her cell phone number and email address. She said even the cops eventually got sick of coming out and suggested she get a restraining order against her ex. (WBEZ is identifying her with a pseudonym for her family’s safety.) In a court filing, Ellen said he would call and text so much - he even started sending letters to her house every day - that she felt like she was being stalked. He continued requesting wellness checks on the little girl even though police never found anything wrong. But police didn’t find anything wrong with the girl, said Ellen.īut then, she said, he became obsessive. Her ex-boyfriend contacted police and requested a wellness check on their young daughter. The trouble began when police officers showed up at Ellen’s house late one night. To stay up to date on the stories that matter. WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information.
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