Nathan

Philippines, Politics

There are now ads on TV promoting the use of RFID tags on vehicles. Drivers may avail of their RFID microchips starting October at LTO for Php350. They say the mechanism can last for 10 years.It is actually used in other countries as well, such as United States and Singapore. These chips contain information on the vehicle, which can only be read by authorized LTO scanners.

Why are RFID tags useful in the streets? According to LTO, using these chips can:

• Reduce traffic,
• Reduce pollution,
• Reduce “colorum” public utility vehicles, and
• Prevent vehicle theft, among others.

Most of these benefits arise from more effective law enforcement as violators can easily be identified and apprehended. The catch? Many have been hesitant with the implementation, as it is prone to misuse.

If the system is compromised, given only the vehicle ID, one could already access a bunch of private information, and this is a serious security risk. LTO should be able to ensure high security and protection of these information. Also, a party-list representative, Lisa Masa said that this can actually be used for “spying” on private citizens. Considering that these tags contain valuable information, when compromised, these information may be used in a negative way.

This forum might also be a good read, for a public view on the RFID implementation. The link to the forum also contains links to why Stradcom Corp. sounds familiar to some and “infamous” to yet some. Apparently, Stradcom Corp. has been linked with a number of LTO projects and transactions, including RFID. Some believe that the company might have activities that seem anomalous. A column dated February 2009 details some interesting notes at that time on Stradcom.

When used properly, this system can indeed improve many aspects in the everyday driving lives and safety of everyone. Let’s just hope that this won’t have adverse effects on society, especially as a result of mismanagement and/or abuse.

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