January 16, 2007 -- The New York Civil Liberties Union has asked the commission charged with reviewing Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing proposal to assure any plan it recommends will seek to protect New Yorkers’ privacy rights.

In a letter sent Tuesday to the city’s Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission, the NYCLU reiterates its concerns that congestion pricing could entail the installation of thousands of cameras that would allow the government to track the daily movements of the hundreds of thousands of people who drive into Manhattan. It asks the commission to take steps to mitigate privacy threats, such as offering “anonymous E-ZPass accounts” that could allow drivers to enter and leave Manhattan without becoming part of a government operated database.

The commission has until Thursday, Jan. 31 to submit a congestion pricing plan to local and state lawmakers.

To read the letter, visit www.nyclu.org