Galileo Software Services Inc., an information technology company established by former whistleblower Rodolfo Noel Lozada, said Monday it is in talks with local telecommunication companies and phone manufacturers to offer a mobile security application called Tara, or theft apprehension and asset recovery application.
“We are making it available to all telcos and phone manufacturers before the end of the year,” Lozada, who became famous as the NBN-ZTE whistleblower, told reporters.
The app service is available only to Smart Communications Inc. and Sun Cellular subscribers. The monthly fee for the package is P50 or an annual subscription of P500.
Lozada said Tara would render a stolen smartphone unusable through a “kill-switch” feature that would prevent the mobile phone’s brain from functioning again.
A 2014 National Telecommunications Communication report showed at least 30 smartphones were lost every day to pickpockets or thieves and were easily disposed in the grey market and re-sold to private individuals.
“In most cases, there is a feeling of helplessness among those who lost their phones,” said Lozada.
Lozada said there was a need to increase awareness among smartphone users on how to protect themselves from thieves, and ensure that important files and data could be preserved if they lost their phones.
He said tthe feeling of helplessness when a phone was lost could be alleviated if users had high awareness on how they could retrieve their personal data by knowing the benefits of having anti-theft apps on their gadgets.
Lozada said one can lock the stolen phone with a text message, or call a call center to have his or her phone deactivated.
Tara would render the mobile phone unit useless even if the SIM card was removed or replaced, or memory was reformatted or erased, he said.
Lozada said his company planned to launch the service in Asian countries.
“It could turn the Philippines into a winner when the Asean Economic Community kicks in,” he said.
The recent development of the Tara app could give the Philippines an advantage in the free flow of goods and services, at least in the tech services sector, once the Asean integration happens, he said.
“The Philippines virtually has nothing to send outside to other Asean countries, except labor, while goods and services from these countries flow into ours,” Lozada said.