Until there's evidence someone is actually exploiting this at an economically relevant level, I wouldn't agree the "system needs to be more secure".
And if it is being exploited, using the existing license-plate cameras may be a more effective means of securing the system than upgrading the transponder behavior.
I think the first point is sensible, even though I disagree with it.
I'm not sure I understand how license plate cameras solve the problem, though. How many tens of thousands of license plates would need to be processed per day, and for what pattern?
Also note that the economics are just part of the problem. Other problems include privacy, chain of evidence, and personal fraud damages.
They already take photos of, at the very least, those who slip through without paying or with a missing/faulty/dead transponder.
So step one is just to take a sample: for X thousand FasTrak transactions, for how many did the license plate and transponder disagree? If it's trivial, there's no economic rationale for fixing the system. Just make a note that transponder logs have a Y% fraud/error rate, for when disputes arise.
If still concerned about the other aspects, save the photo log for exactly as long as the transponder log. That reduces all the issues to the same as those with using counterfeit plates, which we've lived with for over a century, without major problems.
(In fact, I suspect they're already keeping the photo logs, but time will tell.)
It's an interesting point. Obviously, if they had you working for the toll system, they'd be able to come up with some interesting countermeasures. Of course, they don't have anyone like you or I working there.
Comments
Until there's evidence someone is actually exploiting this at an economically relevant level, I wouldn't agree the "system needs to be more secure".
And if it is being exploited, using the existing license-plate cameras may be a more effective means of securing the system than upgrading the transponder behavior.
I think the first point is sensible, even though I disagree with it.
I'm not sure I understand how license plate cameras solve the problem, though. How many tens of thousands of license plates would need to be processed per day, and for what pattern?
Also note that the economics are just part of the problem. Other problems include privacy, chain of evidence, and personal fraud damages.
They already take photos of, at the very least, those who slip through without paying or with a missing/faulty/dead transponder.
So step one is just to take a sample: for X thousand FasTrak transactions, for how many did the license plate and transponder disagree? If it's trivial, there's no economic rationale for fixing the system. Just make a note that transponder logs have a Y% fraud/error rate, for when disputes arise.
If still concerned about the other aspects, save the photo log for exactly as long as the transponder log. That reduces all the issues to the same as those with using counterfeit plates, which we've lived with for over a century, without major problems.
(In fact, I suspect they're already keeping the photo logs, but time will tell.)
It's an interesting point. Obviously, if they had you working for the toll system, they'd be able to come up with some interesting countermeasures. Of course, they don't have anyone like you or I working there.