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Vehicle registration notices to be sent in security envelopes

The Directorate General of Highways (DGH) said yesterday that the nation's vehicle registration department will soon begin to send out notifications in sealed envelopes because of concerns personal information may be leaked during the delivery process.

Currently, notifications, including fuel surcharge bills, rulings on traffic violations and liability insurance bills, are printed in a triplicate form on perforated paper.

Personal information, such as the recipient's name, address, and personal ID number are listed in one of the forms. Once folded inside, the wider side of letter is sealed with adhesive. The narrower sides on the left and right of the letter, however, are not sealed when they are delivered.

DGH director general James Chen (陳晉源) said yesterday that all notifications are sent to motorists by registered express mail. Therefore, recipients must either personally receive the mail or ask another person to accept the mail on their behalf.

"Since mail delivery personnel cannot simply drop this mail in the mailboxes, it is unlikely that personal information could be leaked to any other individual," he said.

Nevertheless, the directorate has decided that notifications containing personal information will all be sent in envelops. Meanwhile, the last four digits of the personal ID number will be replaced by star signs.

Chen made the announcement after the United Daily News yesterday reported that a Taipei resident complained that his ID number and other important information were revealed because of the poorly designed delivery forms.

Because of this specific incident, Chen yesterday ordered vehicle registration departments nationwide to halt the delivery of notifications and begin to put them inside sealed envelopes before they could be sent.

The news also became the center of discussion at the legislature's Transportation Committee yesterday.

People First Party Legislator Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said that based on the Personal Protection Law (個人資料保護法), those whose information was accidentally disclosed by government organizations were entitled to ask for compensation of up to NT$100,000.

"Given the hundreds of thousands of notifications ... the accumulated compensation could be an enormous amount," Lee said.
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