Every time you drive through a toll plaza, an electronic toll collection system like E-ZPass, SunPass, or FasTrak records exactly where you were and when. But what most drivers do not realize is that these transponders are being read far beyond the toll booth -- at intersections, on highway overpasses, and at locations that have nothing to do with collecting tolls. Your toll tag has quietly become a vehicle tracking device.
How Electronic Toll Collection Tracks You
Electronic toll systems work by assigning a small RFID transponder to your vehicle. When you pass a toll reader, the transponder transmits a unique identifier that is matched to your account, which contains your name, address, license plate number, and payment information. The system logs the date, time, and location of each transaction.
On the surface, this seems reasonable -- you used a toll road, and the system charges you for it. The privacy problem begins when that same technology is deployed well beyond toll plazas.
Readers Beyond the Toll Booth
In a revealing investigation, the NYCLU (the New York affiliate of the ACLU) discovered that E-ZPass readers were installed at locations throughout New York City that had no connection to toll collection. Readers were found at nearly every major intersection in Midtown Manhattan, on the approach to the Brooklyn Bridge, and at various other non-toll locations across the city. These readers silently logged the presence of any vehicle with an active E-ZPass transponder.
New York is not alone. Virginia and other states have deployed similar readers on non-toll roads to monitor traffic flow and measure travel times. While transportation agencies describe this as anonymous traffic data collection, the underlying technology is capable of tracking individual vehicles by their unique transponder IDs.
Speed Monitoring
Several states have found another use for toll data: catching speeders. Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Rhode Island use E-ZPass timestamps to calculate how fast drivers are traveling between two toll points. If you cover the distance faster than the speed limit allows, the system can flag it. While enforcement actions based on this data have been limited, the capability exists and the data is being collected.
Your Toll Data Is a Location History
Every toll transaction creates a timestamped record of your vehicle's location. Over weeks and months, this data builds a detailed picture of your daily routine -- where you work, where you shop, who you visit, and when you travel. This information can be subpoenaed in legal proceedings, requested by law enforcement, or exposed in a data breach.
What Data Toll Systems Collect
The data collected by electronic toll systems typically includes:
- Transponder ID: A unique identifier linked to your account
- License plate number: Captured by cameras at toll plazas, especially for vehicles without transponders
- Photographs: Images of your vehicle and license plate taken at each toll point
- Date and time: Precise timestamps for every toll transaction
- Location: The specific toll plaza, lane, or reader location
- Account holder information: Your name, address, email, phone number, and payment details
- Vehicle information: Make, model, year, and registration details
For cashless toll systems -- which are becoming the norm in more states -- there is no way to pass through without generating a record. Even vehicles without transponders are photographed and identified through license plate recognition, and the registered owner receives a bill by mail.
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Start your free scanThe Shift to Cashless Tolling
The privacy landscape for toll road users is getting worse, not better. More states are eliminating cash toll lanes entirely, converting to all-electronic tolling. This means that every single vehicle passing through a toll point is identified and logged, with no anonymous option available.
Before cashless tolling, a driver could pay with coins or bills and pass through without any record tied to their identity. That option is disappearing. The result is a comprehensive, government-maintained database of vehicle movements across toll infrastructure -- and, as we have seen, sometimes beyond it.
How to Protect Your Privacy
1. Understand Your Transponder's Range
Your E-ZPass or similar transponder is an always-on RFID device. It does not only activate at toll booths -- it responds to any compatible reader within range. If you are concerned about being tracked at non-toll locations, the simplest countermeasure is to store your transponder in a radio-frequency shielding bag (often called a Faraday pouch) when you are not actively using a toll road. Some toll agencies even provide Mylar bags for this purpose. Remove the transponder from the bag only when approaching a toll you intend to pay.
2. Review Your Toll Account Settings
Log into your E-ZPass, SunPass, FasTrak, or other toll account and review the privacy settings. Some agencies allow you to:
- Opt out of data sharing with third parties
- Limit data retention periods
- Disable account features that track trip history beyond what is needed for billing
- Request deletion of historical trip data
Read the terms of service carefully. Some toll agencies share data with law enforcement without a warrant, while others require a court order.
3. Use Alternate Routes When Possible
The most direct way to avoid toll surveillance is to avoid toll roads. Navigation apps like Google Maps, Waze, and Apple Maps all offer options to route around tolls. While this may add time to your trip, it eliminates the data trail entirely.
4. Pay Attention to Cashless Tolling Policies
If your state still offers cash toll lanes, using them provides a degree of anonymity -- though cameras may still photograph your plate. For cashless toll roads where you do not have a transponder, the system photographs your license plate and bills you by mail. This still creates a record, but it is not linked to a transponder account with your full personal and payment history.
5. Check Your State's Data Retention Policies
Toll data retention policies vary significantly by state. Some states keep detailed trip records for years, while others purge transaction-level data more quickly. Contact your toll agency or check their privacy policy to understand how long your data is stored and under what circumstances it can be shared.
Faraday Bags for Transponders
A small RFID-blocking pouch or Faraday bag can prevent your toll transponder from being read at unauthorized locations. These are inexpensive (typically under $10) and effective. Some E-ZPass agencies have acknowledged the existence of non-toll readers and recommend that privacy-conscious drivers store their transponders in shielded bags when not in use on toll roads.
6. Advocate for Stronger Privacy Protections
Many of the privacy risks from toll collection stem from weak or nonexistent regulations governing how toll data is used, shared, and retained. Contact your state legislators and toll authority to advocate for:
- Strict limits on using toll infrastructure for non-toll surveillance
- Mandatory data minimization and short retention periods
- Warrant requirements before toll data is shared with law enforcement
- Public disclosure of all locations where transponder readers are deployed
- Maintaining cash payment options for drivers who want them
Protect Your Broader Digital Footprint
Toll collection data is just one piece of a larger location tracking puzzle. Your vehicle's location is also captured by license plate readers, connected car systems, parking apps, and the smartphone in your pocket. When combined, these data sources create an extraordinarily detailed picture of your movements and habits.
A service like PrivacyOn can help you regain control over the personal information that feeds into these tracking systems. By automatically removing your data from over 100 data broker sites -- where your name, address, license plate, and other identifiers are bought and sold -- PrivacyOn reduces the connective tissue that links your toll records to your broader personal profile. Paired with dark web monitoring that alerts you if your information surfaces in leaked databases, PrivacyOn helps you limit the downstream consequences of surveillance systems you cannot fully opt out of.
Electronic toll collection is a convenience that comes with real privacy trade-offs. By understanding what data is collected, where your transponder is being read, and what steps you can take to limit exposure, you can make informed decisions about how much of your travel history you are willing to hand over.