Our NFC chips are locked: why, and what it protects

It is an invisible technical detail, yet essential to the security of your plate: NFC chip locking. At Tap2Star, all our chips are write-locked before shipping. Here is what that means, what it protects you from, and how you still keep control of your destination.

“Write-locked chip”: what does it mean?

An NFC chip holds a small memory, in which an address (a URL) is written. By default, this memory is rewritable: with a simple smartphone and a free app, its content can be changed.

Locking the chip means making this memory permanently unchangeable. Once locked, the chip can still be read by your customers' phones, but its content can never be rewritten. This is what we do systematically on our plates.

The risk of unlocked chips

On a plate whose chip is not locked, the content is at anyone's mercy:

• a malicious person can rewrite the destination address and redirect your customers wherever they want (a competitor's site, a fraudulent page…);
• worse still: they can write a bad URL and then lock the chip themselves. The plate then becomes permanently unusable — you can no longer change anything.

A simple tap of a phone, a few seconds, and your plate is hijacked or neutralised. It is a real risk, often kept quiet.

That is why we lock every chip before shipping: it is a simple, permanent protection that every serious manufacturer should apply.

“So how do I change my destination?”

Good question — and this is where our system is clever. The locked chip does not directly contain your Google listing address: it contains a permanent Tap2Star link, which redirects to the destination of your choice.

The result: you change your destination whenever you want, from your account, without ever touching the chip. You get the best of both worlds:

• a tamper-proof chip (no one can rewrite its content);
• a 100% editable destination (you change your Google listing, your premises… in a few clicks).

To go further: our complete Google review plate guide and the first steps with your plate.