Results: RFID and Identity Management in everyday life - ITAS

to the CBP commercial purposes alone are no reason to store and use data. The question hereby is whether
travellers have a fair opt in or opt out choice.
According to the WBP users explicitly have to agree with the collection and storage of travelling data [4]. But
it looks like travellers don’t always have a clear choice. In case of the discount card of the NS for example
the users agree with the collection of data when they first use the card. Consumer organizations say that this
is the wrong way round; the standard should be that travellers don’t give permission unless they actively say
TLS can use their data. The CBP also warned against personal cards that are (temporarily) cheaper than
anonymous cards [41]. And finally there are questions concerning the storage term of the gathered data.
The companies have to respect the law on the protection of personal data (Wet Bescherming
Persoonsgegevens, WBP). But the NS and TLS say they interpret this law differently than the CBP does and
still say they can store and use the data. The minister of transport still hopes to solve the issue [39, 40, 50].
Costs
Another problem occurs with the different possibilities of the OV-chip card. This card can be loaded with a
certain product (like a train ticket), which is called ‘specifying beforehand’. Another option is to check in with
the card at the entrance and checking out at the exit, known as ‘specifying while travelling’. Consumer
organizations find it unacceptable that ‘specifying while travelling’ is going to be more expensive than
‘specifying beforehand’ namely 10 to more than 100 percent [13]. Then most travellers will specify their
journey beforehand thus limiting the advantages of the OV-chip card.
According to calculations the costs of travelling in rush hours will rise with 10% while travelling outside these
hours will cost 20% less [12]. Consumer organizations protest against this because most travellers have no
choice but to travel during rush hours [14].
Apart from travelling costs there are also costs to obtain a chip card. Some members of parliament and
different consumer organizations like Rover find the price of the card (€7,50) too high [17, 20, 25, 26]. This
resulted in a temporarily lowering to €3,75 [38]. But according to the consumer organizations a temporarily
low price is insufficient [17]. Members of the parliament also warned that the travelling costs should not rise
with the introduction of the OV-chip card, the minister agrees [28]. Another issue is that TLS profits from the
interest from the balance on the cards, this could be used to lower the price [36].
Consumer organizations further want to use more possibilities of the OV-chip card to maximize its utility and
acceptance of the travellers (lockers, station stores, parking, train taxi) [13]. But for now it is unclear what the
possibilities are. The website of the OV-chip card even states that mobile phones and other RFID-cards can
cause malfunctioning of card readers [9]. Although there have been a great number of pilots worldwide on
the use of RFID systems the use in practice is first to been seen.
An evaluation showed that 75% of the travellers that use the OV-chip card say the system works sufficient,
25% thinks there are to many problems with malfunctioning of the system, limited use and costs that are
expected to rise [18]. In June 2006 the parliament and consumer organizations still have worries about the
privacy and the costs of the system and costs of travelling but eventually lets the minister continue the
project [38, 40].
Reactions on the internet show that people are not convinced about the use of the OV-chip card system.
Test travellers say travelling is more expensive with this card and the entrance to the public transport is
slower [53]. Other test travellers in Rotterdam praise the system because it is easy to use because you just
have to wave your card before a reader [54]. So the test travellers have different opinions about the use of
the OV-chip card. But many are scared by the idea that more and more information about their person and
whereabouts are registered [54]. Some especially criticise the lack of choice; when using the public transport
regularly - and therefore use a discount card or a subscription - they cannot travel anonymous [54]. There
are also fears of function creep; that the police soon will get access to all travel data and that the storage
term will be extended [54]. And others worry about the security of the travel data, especially when this data
will be accessible over the internet [54]. Further there are concerns about the use of the data for commercial
purposes like advertisements [55].
Because of these worries people already search for ways to undermine the system; for example by
exchanging OV-cards [54]. Other contributors on the internet fantasize about hacking the chip [55].
Another reaction came from a person who is afraid that the use of the OV-chip card for small payments in
cinema’s, parking lots, etc. (like the system in Hong Kong) combined with an automated reload function of
the card balance will cause users to run into debts [55]. And finally there are people worried that the OV-card
system is to complex for a large group of people, especially elderly [56].
Personal experiences of our researchers [57]
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