Floridians have no way of knowing how toll surveillance is being used, because the state refuses to release that information. Here's what else you should know.
Like many highways across the country, toll roads managed by Florida's Department of Transportation now rely heavily on all-electronic tolling. It's a system that uses automated license plate readers to bill drivers who pass through toll gates without having payment transponders, like SunPass in Florida and EZ Pass across much of the Eastern U.S.
The DOT repeatedly denied public records requests for a copy of its enforcement list, redacted of any personal driver information. It cited exemptions to Florida's public records law that government transparency advocates said did not apply. And officials ignored requests to mediate the dispute under a program run by the state Attorney General's Office.
“Part of the freedom that we think we have comes from the fact that we’re not being spied on and watched all the time,” said Lee Tien, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a California-based nonprofit that advocates for digital privacy. “Detailed information about when and where we travel can paint a picture of a person’s life,” Stevenson said.In 2015, state Sen. Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero filed a bill to limit state use of plate readers. It would have required warrants for police to use the technology — except in emergencies and for toll enforcement — and restricted how long police could hold onto plate reader data.
Rodrigues also said he never received answers about what non-legislative rules existed to govern how plate reader data was used. The U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on how the Constitution applies to license plate readers. And outcomes in state courts have been mixed.
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