FC: Autoprivacy: Texas monitors drivers, red light cams, rental cars

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

********

Photo surveillance for survey draws fire
Jul. 8, 2001 05:20 ET
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/962435

[...]
The American Civil Liberties Union is questioning the use of the cameras to 
record license plate numbers of motorists for the survey. "It's just one 
day. We set up cameras, then take them away," said Deborah Graham, state 
director of traffic planning. "We look at the tape and transcribe vehicle 
registration information." The car's owner is mailed a questionnaire 
designed to find out the purpose of the trip -- family reasons, shopping or 
work, for example.
[...]

********

Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2001 23:14:56 -0400
To: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
From: Monty Solomon <monty () roscom com>
Subject: GPS: Gotta Pay for Speeding

GPS: Gotta Pay for Speeding

James Turner is taking Big Brother to small claims court.
Turner's taking his own car. Big Brother's driving a rental.

A rental outfitted with a high-tech device that tracks your every
move. One that records your speed. One that enables rental car agents
to rip off unsuspecting drivers.

Turner's really suing Acme Rent-A-Car on Whalley Avenue in New Haven
for cozying up with Big Brother. He's trying to recoup a $450 charge
for allegedly speeding on his way to Virginia in an Acme minivan. The
van was equipped with a Global Positioning System, or GPS, which
transmits data via satellite. It clocked him "going at speeds in
excess of 90 mph on three separate occasions," according to court
papers. The internal device did, but the cops didn't.

http://www.newmassmedia.com/nac.phtml?code=new&db=nac_fea&ref=16435


********

From: Sonia Arrison <sarrison () pacificresearch org>
To: "'declan () well com'" <declan () well com>
Subject: Never rent with Acme rental cars!
Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2001 14:50:46 -0700

They used a GPS to track a user's speed and then fine them according to the
contract.  Yikes!
-Sonia

http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-07-03-car-tracking.htm

07/03/2001 - Updated 10:39 AM ET

GPS system used to fine driver for speeding

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - The state Department of Consumer Protection is
investigating a complaint against a rental car company that used satellite
technology to track a New Haven customer's alleged speeding.
James Turner complained about Acme Rent-A-Car of New Haven for using his
rented minivan's global positioning system to clock his speed.

[...]

********

From: "GG" <mystic () jc net>
To: "Declan McCullagh" <declan () well com>
Cc: "Sean Hannity" <Hannity () FoxNews com>,
        "G. Gordon Liddy" <gordonliddy () aol com>,
        "Clark Sanders" <csanders () informatics net>,
        "Bill O'Rielly" <oreilly () FoxNews com>
Subject: Motorists race to court to challenge red-light cameras
Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2001 19:45:40 -0500

Photos called privacy threat
By Valerie Alvord
Special to USA TODAY


SAN DIEGO -- The camera doesn't lie, or so they say. But attorney Arthur
Tait and more than 300 clients have gone to court to prove that, at least in
California, cameras can lie.

Their cases are drawing attention to law enforcement's war against drivers
who run red lights.

Every day, cameras catch thousands of people in 60 jurisdictions across the
USA as they speed through red lights. In San Diego alone, more than 60,000
traffic tickets are issued each year from the cameras at 19 intersections.

Studies consistently show wide public support across the USA for camera
enforcement at intersections. Running traffic lights, police point out, is
extremely dangerous. Lockheed Martin IMS owns and operates 80% of red-light
cameras across the country. And there's a waiting list of communities asking
for cameras to be installed because demand for them is high.

[...]

http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20010706/3462035s.htm

********

From: rms () privacyfoundation org (Richard M. Smith)
To: "'Declan McCullagh'" <declan () well com>
Cc: <Richard.Diamond () mail house gov>
Subject: RE: Lockheed gets $70 for each red light ticket in San Diego
Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2001 13:31:12 -0400

Hi,

A few more data points about this story.

First off, the Washington, DC police department
seems to have cut a much better deal with Lockheed
than San Diego.  Lockheed only gets $30 per
red-light ticket in DC vs. $70 in San Diego.

The DC number came from this editorial:

   Red-light cameras ripe for misuse
   http://www.reporternews.com/2000/opinion/red0616.html

Second, the DC red-light camera system received
a public-private partnership award in 2000 according
to this Lockheed press release:

   District's Photo Enforcement Program Receives
   National Public-Private Partnership Award Lockheed
   Martin IMS honored for dramatically reducing red-light running.

   http://www.lmims.com/news/10_26_00.html

Finally, Lockheed seems to be playing fast and loose
with some of their statistics:

   http://www.lmims.com/prodserv/ms.html

   Photo Enforcement

   "Motor vehicle accidents caused by drivers who
   run red lights, speed or race the train kill tens
   of thousands of American motorists each year"

Obviously running a red light or train crossing is
a serious safety problem, but the insurance industry puts the
death rate below a 1,000 people per year according
to other press accounts.

Richard

*********

Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2001 16:03:32 -0700
To: declan () well com, politech () politechbot com
From: David Honig <honig () sprynet com>
Subject: Re: FC: Lockheed gets $70 for each red light ticket in San
  Diego
Cc: rms () privacyfoundation org, Richard.Diamond () mail house gov
In-Reply-To: <5.0.2.1.0.20010707121636.02177980 () mail well com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
X-UIDL: fb4eb73e613bd3a037b6820b6abdf20d

At 12:25 PM 7/7/01 -0400, Declan McCullagh wrote:
>More coverage:
>Subject: Lockheed gets a piece of the action with the San Diego red-light
>cameras
>
>City governments hire private firms all of the time
>to help provide city services.  However, the idea of
>that a private company gets a percentage of traffic fines
>seems quite wrong headed to me.
>
>   "Lockheed gets $70 for every $271 fine generated by a red-light
>   ticket in San Diego, according to testimony yesterday."
>

(*Not* personally in their defense)
The Lockheeds etc. that provide these systems do so for *free* to the
cities in return for a fraction of the *take*.

Although a fantastic biz model, it *does* bias the motivations the wrong way.
Piece of the action, indeed.

*********




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