Privacy technology in electronic toll collection : achieving toll patron privacy.

Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) is moving from account-based systems (in which identification is a requirement) to stored-value, cash-replacement systems. Most systems designed today (inadvertently) produce customer information as a side effect during transactions. The potential for gathering this often sensitive customer information is likely to conflict with privacy protecting legislation which is now being introduced. Methods from the field of privacy technology can be applied to ETC systems to achieve or enhance customer privacy in an effective way. These methods do not conflict with other requirements (security and efficiency), and have been proven feasible. (A)