Reston Town Center Developer: ParkRTC App Privacy Concerns Are Totally Overblown

RESTON, VA — The introduction of the ParkRTC app by Reston Town Center manager Boston Properties has not exactly gone smoothly in terms of public reception, mostly because people aren't happy about having to pay for parking now, but also because of concerns about privacy. However, Boston Properties says the "Find Your Car" feature is perfectly safe.

Locals have reached out to Patch.com alleging that one merely has to input a license plate number to find the location of a vehicle at Reston Town Center and when they parked, which could enable stalking by an abusive ex-boyfriend, for example. Kathy Walsh, a spokesperson for Fallston Group, which represents Boston Properties, didn't deny that the Park Assist Park Finder technology that allows people to locate a car only requires the user to input a license plate number. However, she said it has been used around the world "without incident."

"At RTC, it will only be available at onsite pay stations, not through the app," Walsh said. "You must be physically onsite to look for a car, and as Park Assist points out, once you are there, you could easily just walk around the garage to look for a specific car. In fact, according to Park Assist, many sites actually deploy the Find Your Car technology to enhance security, to avoid customers looking for their cars late at night in a parking garage."

Walsh also said that the snapshot of the license plate is not stored after exiting the garage.

The new parking system will go into effect on Sept. 12.