Pittsburgh authority studies phone app for parking meters
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PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Parking Authority is trying to find a company that can offer a smartphone application that would let drivers feed parking meters remotely.
The apps – already being used in many other cities – let people deposit money into meters while still in their cars if the weather is bad, or add time to their meters if they are busy shopping or with other errands that prevent them from returning to their parked vehicles, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Monday.
“All of these other cities are doing this successfully, and we are hearing that people want this and look forward to it,” said Dave Onorato, the authority’s executive director.
The technology is convenient but, as with other applications, can come with a price that’s not just monetary.
“It’s technology that people will find very convenient,” said Lorrie Faith Cranor, who directs Carnegie Mellon University’s CyLab Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory. “It would be a shame, though, to roll it out and then all of the sudden surprise people with (location) tracking and advertising that some people might think is privacy invasive.”
Two companies market such apps, SP Plus Corp. of Chicago and Park ‘N Fly Inc. in Atlanta, have recently reported data breaches that may have compromised personal information of people who used them.
SP Plus collects parking payments in Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Seattle and Evanston, Ill., and reported a data breach in November. Park ‘N Fly said in January that customers’ credit card, email and phone information may have been accessed through its e-commerce website.
Cranor said she suggests the parking authority use a vendor that would be “very upfront about their data collection and protection policies” and would “not be building profiles of users.”
Michael Klein, a member of the International Parking Institute who is executive director of the Albany Parking Authority in New York’s capital city, said the technology “has become effective and affordable.”
“This allows us to connect (parking) activity to business. It’s a beautiful opportunity,” Klein said.