Difference between revisions of "Privacy Issues"
| Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
==Use of Smart Cards== | ==Use of Smart Cards== | ||
| − | A Smart Card is a credit card-sized piece of plastic that contains an automatic identification system such as a bar code, magnetic strip, optical character recognition system, or radio frequency identification (RFID) chip, that can be used as a fare payment media or otherwise access transit services. It may need to be inserted into a reader, though newer versions are "contactless" and can be read as long as they are in proximity to the interface device. The card may contain only limited information, such as a monetary balance, or have saved information about the user including credit information used to purchase the card, or other personal, financial, and biometric data, or provide a link to other data sources containing such information. The more personally identifiable information (PII) that is either stored on the card or that can be accessed using it, the greater potential that privacy concerns may be raised.<ref> TCRP Legal | + | A Smart Card is a credit card-sized piece of plastic that contains an automatic identification system such as a bar code, magnetic strip, optical character recognition system, or radio frequency identification (RFID) chip, that can be used as a fare payment media or otherwise access transit services. It may need to be inserted into a reader, though newer versions are "contactless" and can be read as long as they are in proximity to the interface device. The card may contain only limited information, such as a monetary balance, or have saved information about the user including credit information used to purchase the card, or other personal, financial, and biometric data, or provide a link to other data sources containing such information. This could include a person's name, address, age, gender, social security number, or other identifying information. The more personally identifiable information (PII) that is either stored on the card or that can be accessed using it, the greater potential that privacy concerns may be raised.<ref> TCRP Legal Research Digest 25.</ref> |
| − | Information from Smart Cards can be used for fare collection, billing, marketing and planning, and security purposes. | + | Information from Smart Cards can be used for fare collection, billing, marketing and planning, and security purposes. The most significant factor for privacy purposes is that Smart Cards can provide locational data on where the card, and by implication the card's user, is located at any particular time. This data may be collected when the card it used to access transit services, or it may eventually be possible to link the card with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to track its whereabouts at any time (like cellphone data) or at least within a transit venue or vehicle.<ref> TCRP Research Digest 25, p. 5.</ref> |
==Further Reading== | ==Further Reading== | ||
Revision as of 23:48, 11 March 2015
Introduction
Americans have an expectation that their private information will not be subject to collection and disclosure by government entities, including public transportation providers. The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits "unreasonable searches and seizures" and this includes not just evidence of criminal activity but any information for which there is a "reasonable expectation of privacy. Generally speaking, activities undertaken in public, in plain view of others, such as riding on public transit is not entitled to the expectation that it is private. However, the increasing development of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) capable of collecting large amounts of data about individual passengers raises questions whether some degree of privacy protection may be not only warranted but expected by the public at large.[1]
Use of Smart Cards
A Smart Card is a credit card-sized piece of plastic that contains an automatic identification system such as a bar code, magnetic strip, optical character recognition system, or radio frequency identification (RFID) chip, that can be used as a fare payment media or otherwise access transit services. It may need to be inserted into a reader, though newer versions are "contactless" and can be read as long as they are in proximity to the interface device. The card may contain only limited information, such as a monetary balance, or have saved information about the user including credit information used to purchase the card, or other personal, financial, and biometric data, or provide a link to other data sources containing such information. This could include a person's name, address, age, gender, social security number, or other identifying information. The more personally identifiable information (PII) that is either stored on the card or that can be accessed using it, the greater potential that privacy concerns may be raised.[2]
Information from Smart Cards can be used for fare collection, billing, marketing and planning, and security purposes. The most significant factor for privacy purposes is that Smart Cards can provide locational data on where the card, and by implication the card's user, is located at any particular time. This data may be collected when the card it used to access transit services, or it may eventually be possible to link the card with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to track its whereabouts at any time (like cellphone data) or at least within a transit venue or vehicle.[3]
Further Reading
Transit Cooperative Research Program, Legal Research Digest 14, "Treatment of Privacy Issues in the Transit Industry," March 2000.
- This report discusses various privacy issues that may arise within the public transportation industry both in the workplace and involving customers and their private information.
Transit Cooperative Research Program, Legal Research Digest 25, "Privacy Issues with the Use of Smart Cards," April 2008.
- This report examines basic privacy issues associated with the collection, use, and storage of financial and trip data associated with the use of transit smart cards.