EPIC Urges Department of Transportation to Prioritize Privacy in New Pedestrian Detection System

In comments to the Department of Transportation, EPIC urged the agency to foreground privacy when designing a new system to alert cars to the presence of pedestrians, bicyclists and other travelers in intersections. The DoT is planning to develop a system that will give assisted-driving equipped and autonomous cars advance notice when pedestrians and other vulnerable road users enter crosswalks. The DoT aims to prevent accidents and improve traffic flow. EPIC urged the agency to (1) consider the privacy impacts of high-tech camera systems on privacy (2) choose the most privacy-protective technologies and implement privacy-by-design principles, and (3) avoid any technology that collects pedestrians’ cell phone data.

EPIC regularly comments, testifies, and submits amicus briefs on the intersection of transportation and privacy. Most recently, EPIC filed comments on emerging transportation technologies and submitted an amicus brief arguing that the Fourth Amendment required police to obtain a warrant before accessing location information from Boston’s mass transit system.