Registering Security: Investigating the Operation of and Reaction to the Public Vehicle Registry (REPUVE) in Mexico

Bloomfield College

Investigators

Abstract

Advanced technologies are embraced by people and governments the world over as a primary means for providing security. From metal detectors housed at school entrances to crime analysis software installed in police computers, investment in security technologies reflects a faith in technological devices to provide safety from diverse threats. While ubiquitous in society, little is known about how security technologies affect people?s relation to the law. In other words, do pedestrians who walk on streets or immigrants who send remittances home comply with the regulations security technologies enforce? How their relationship to regulation and authority is more broadly affected? This project investigates this question by examining REPUVE (Registro Público Vehicular), a federally-run vehicle registration program in Mexico that aims to reduce motor vehicle crime by adhering a radio-frequency identification (RFID) device to every vehicle in the country. To understand how REPUVE affects people's relation to the law, the principal investigator (PI) will conduct field research in Mexico. This includes interviewing employees at Neology, the manufacturer of REPUVE's RFID devices; members of the Executive Secretary of the National Public Security System (SNSP), the government agency overseeing the program; car dealers and insurance providers, who are responsible for registering users and distributing the RFID devices; and car owners. Observations will also be conducted at toll booths throughout the country, where sensors are mounted to read the RFID devices. This project aims to contribute to social science analyses of privacy and security. It will train undergraduate students in qualitative research methods. The research draws its importance from addressing a central question concerning the heightened resort to security technologies in contemporary society as well as focusing on Mexico, a country that beyond experiencing heightened insecurity in recent years has traditionally not figured centrally in socio-legal and science and technology studies.