Georgia's unique toll plan raises privacy concerns

<p>Drivers on one of Georgia's busiest highways could enjoy a smoother rush-hour ride, if they agree to let the government track their driving habits through devices placed in their vehicles.</p><p>A proposal before the state's highway department would create new toll lanes on Georgia Highway 400, one of the most popular _ and traffic-clogged _ routes between Atlanta and its northern suburbs. But instead of using traditional stop-and-pay toll booths, a voluntary system would let drivers keep moving, so long as they have a radio transponder in their vehicle that would feed signals to an electronic toll.</p><p>Those drivers would be billed for the number of miles they drive on the highway.</p><p>"We all know that the technology has gone beyond us stopping and throwing a coin into a toll booth," said Rebecca Wallace, spokeswoman for the Crossroads 400 Group, a consortium of private businesses proposing use of the technology as part of a $1.4 billion plan to add toll lanes. "It will make (driving on the highway) much easier."</p><p>However, privacy advocates fear the electronic signals used to track drivers on the highway could be used to stockpile information on individuals _ information that could be given to police or sold to retailers.</p><p>"Someone's information could end up in a terrorist database, just because the government may be interested in who was driving on a highway at a particular time," said Marc Rotenberg, who teaches law at Georgetown University. "We don't think people should have to trade their privacy for convenience."</p><p>The toll plan presented by the Crossroads 400 Group would ease congestion on the highway by adding two or more lanes along all sections of the road, which now has three lanes in either direction at most spots.</p><p>Rotenberg said efforts to reduce traffic congestion, which leads to pollution, should be applauded, but only if the state crafts laws that protect the driving data from other uses other than billing.</p><p>"We're not against the use of new technology to improve traffic, but we simply think there should be appropriate privacy safeguards," he said.</p><p>At least some Georgia lawmakers agree. State Sen. Casey Cagle, R-Gainesville, said he would want to make sure driver information is secure before approving the toll plan.</p><p>"I have some concerns relative to the privacy issues and I think we need to look at that prior to implementation," said Cagle, who is seeking his party's nomination for lieutenant governor in 2006.</p><p>The Georgia Department of Transportation referred calls to Wallace, who said the group's proposal doesn't address the privacy concerns and that it would be up to the state to determine if any safeguards are needed for the information gathered.</p><p>Steve Richards, project director with Washington Group International, which is part of the consortium, said other states have similar systems and that it's standard practice for state governments to write data security measures into their agreements.</p><p>"I think there will be a strong statement by the state that would control that kind of action," he said. "That would be my impression based on my experience with other toll roads across the U.S."</p><p>If approved by the state, the highway project would likely be completed in 2014.</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x1cdd390)</p><p>HASH(0x1cdf08c)</p>