DANGERS IN THE DIGITAL WORLD

TODAY's cars are an amalgamation of mechanical and electronic parts run by a digital program and, in many times, remotely accessed via the internet or some other remote digital signaling device.

While these advancing technologies have provided consumers and the public with very visible and revolutionary convenience, they have also introduced some terrifying dangers that we don't usually associate with our cars.

Recent data breaches of major information hubs like giant technology companies, the International Monetary Fund, Pentagon and multinational corporations, including a few car companies, have put the public at risk of losing more than just their usernames, passwords, or social media accounts (like Facebook and TikTok).

Why the need for motorists or car owners to be aware of these dangers? Most car owners do not think their cars are affected by these data breaches or computer hacking, especially those who are not familiar with the terms we are using now.

But the truth is many of our automobiles are now running under what regular people call online updates or upgrades to their systems. Most modern cars use computer boxes to regulate the function of their cars.

In fact, all electric vehicles (EVs) run on a digital platform connected to the internet. Tesla, for one, uses the digital space to send updates or upgrades to their units.

Not only that, but most of our vehicle information is on a digital database where our personal information is stored. And many of the applications we use, for example, tollway RFID top-ups, are done through digital money apps.

These digital platforms we use, those that ask for our personal information, are points of critical juncture for the capture of our data. This is where hackers gain entry into our personal files and steal not just our digital identities but even our money.

There have been numerous reports of individuals losing their money to internet or mobile phone scams where they send their personal information through phishing sites or other schemes.

But there is a way to prevent ourselves from being victims of these digital world pirates. We just need to limit the information we are sending out. Many information internet sites ask for are not really required. You can see these red asterisks (*) that indicate what sites need and what they can do without.

Facebook, TikTok, or other social media sites do not need to know our address, phone numbers, birthdays, or even our social security numbers. They ask for it, but they don't specifically need it. We do not have to put them in our information boxes.

But we also need the government to be very strict in enforcing data privacy laws.

My phone number receives about 20 spam, scam, or just plain spurious messages a day, and they are sent even at the strangest time of the night. This is quite exasperating as I am a premium service subscriber of Smart's Infinity program, which should have my number kept out of the regular phone list to which I also requested Smart for.

Our personal data on the digital sphere should be sacrosanct as this is our lifeline in the computer age. Our privacy should be paramount to both regulators, enforcers and the companies that ask us for these.

Still a Dermalog-Stradcom Battle at LTO

Speaking of digitalization, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista has ordered the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to directly use the Land Transportation Management System or LTMS for all their offices nationwide.

This is, of course, the best way to finally put to rest the problem besetting the issues at the LTO. Just recently, LTO has finally gotten the go-signal to acquire plastic cards for drivers' licenses, which has been a problematic issue due to legal battles surrounding it. That legal issue has been put to rest.

As the Department of Transportation fixes the issues surrounding the LTO, the digital service providers of the agency are still locked in a frustrating fight over who should be the one operating the system.

Dermalog owns the contract for the LTO digitalization. But Stradcom continues to commit their legal team to try and discredit and kick out the Dermalog group.

We keep wondering what Stradcom will get out of this fight since the LTMS is a no-contact system that does not allow employees of LTO to transact directly with their clients. The system dismisses the computer fees and fixers in the process, making it faster and more convenient.

We should know because our drivers' licenses, even without the plastic cards, only take some 30 minutes to renew now than when it was with Stradcom. Yes, I know, the plastic cards are a sore issue, but the DoTr has finally found a solution. Still, it does not take long to renew because of digitalization.

LTO should resolve this issue, at least on their level, since there is a court proceeding looking into it at the moment. But maybe, with a definite direction from the DoTr, the LTO can move forward and continue to give us better service.

2024-04-29T16:17:14Z dg43tfdfdgfd