Privacy body probes website for possible LTO data breach

Last week, the LTO released an advisory that warned motorists against providing personal information to lisensya.info. (Pixabay photo)

MANILA – The National Privacy Commission (NPC) on Wednesday said it is looking into lisensya.info, a website that provides information from and associates itself with the Land Transportation Office (LTO), to determine a possible breach of personal information.

In a statement, NPC Commissioner Raymund Liboro said a data protection officer (DPO) of the LTO filed a breach notification report with the NPC on Tuesday with details regarding the possible breach.

“The NPC shall verify the incident and look into the extent of possible harm on LTO’s data subjects to determine how to best resolve the situation,” Liboro said.

In a media statement, the NPC said it is also processing a cease and desist order against the website, noting that it would most likely be taken down by Thursday.

“In the meantime, since LTO has confirmed that the site is not officially connected with them, we advise the public not to disclose their personal data to said suspicious website,” the NPC said.

Last week, the LTO released an advisory that warned motorists against providing personal information to lisensya.info.

“Ang lisensya.info website ay hindi pinapatakbo o konektado sa ahensya ng LTO. Para sa kaligtasan ng lahat, huwag po tayong magbigay ng sensitibong impormason sa unverified links o accounts (The lisensya.info website is not operated by or connected to the LTO. For everyone’s safety, please do not provide sensitive information to unverified links or accounts),” the LTO said.

To date, the lisensya.info website is still up and provides its users with the data from the LTO based on their driver’s license and motor vehicle registration.

While those who used the website claimed that it provides accurate information, security experts warn against using the website as it stores the personal information of its users and can be used for identity theft in the future.