Marketed as a congestion-fighting tool for Illinois' tollways, the Chicago Sun-Times reports I-Pass has turned into an investigative tool accessible to anyone with a subpoena or court order.

Since early 2000, the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority reportedly has received at least 10 subpoenas from private lawyers and public agencies looking for I-Pass records of certain drivers.

The agency allegedly has turned over most available data - including the dates, times, amounts and locations of toll transactions paid with the electronic toll payment system.

Among those subpoenaing I-Pass accounts: the FBI, Chicago inspector general' s office, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and divorce attorneys.

I-Pass is subscribed to by 900,000 cars and trucks, with thousands more signing up each week. As lawyers and investigators become more knowledgeable to its capacity for tracking movement, the Sun-Times says more requests are expected.

"I'm afraid this is just the beginning," said Todd Spencer, OOIDA executive vice president. "Any system capable of tracking vehicles and the people in these vehicles, will eventually be used, or misused, for that very purpose regardless of promises to do otherwise."

Although tollway officials said personal I-Pass statements have always been available to law enforcement agencies and lawyers with subpoenas and court orders, it wasn't until recently that anyone asked. The turning point came in 1999, when a new system allowed the toll authority to track transponders in "real time" to monitor traffic flow.
--Keith Goble, staff writer