A netizen brought her complain online when an LTO District Office allegedly asked for her Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) password upon vehicle renewal. This has prompted the LTO to conduct an investigation on the matter.

“The LTO will investigate this incident and will not hesitate to impose applicable sanctions if any employee is found to have violated Republic Act No. 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012,” LTO Chief Assistant Secretary Teofilo Guadiz III said in a statement said to reporters.

In line with this, LTO assured the public on Tuesday that all personal information provided to the agency in all transactions is protected and secured.

“Although LTO employees can search and start a driver’s license or motor vehicle registration for the client through their LTMS Company Portal user accounts, the Agency and its employees do not access the personal accounts of clients when processing an application,” LTO Chief Guadiz continued.

The issue started when a certain Claire David posted a photo on Facebook showing a part of what seemed to be a form issued by the LTO for motor vehicle registration for organizations.

The said form included blank spaces for username and password on the LTO LTMS portal.

“I need to understand the rationale before filling up this slip. Please explain to me why a government agency needs to know the password created by car owners to process vehicles registration renewal,” David wrote in her now-viral post.

The user went on to claim that when she inquired with the district office, she was told: “That’s really the required process, you’re supposed to include your ID and password.”