Data Privacy

Jam Jacob: “For public interest to justify the disclosure of prison records, a specific ground must still be identified. However, there are sufficient grounds under the Data Privacy Act that allow the sharing or disclosure of such records.”

In its latest bulletin, the National Privacy Commission (NPC) reminded businesses, particularly restaurants, salons and barber shops, to collect only what is necessary.

‘Although we now have a data protection law, experience tells us that people often need to be shown how a policy directly applies to their situation.’

Upon assessment, the NPC said it found significant differences between the 2019 and 2020 versions of FaceApp's privacy policies.

The National Privacy Commission issued on Friday, June 5, an updated guideline as a response to the concerns raised by stakeholders on returning-to-work and current work-from-home arrangements.

Europe-headquartered Global Privacy Assembly (GPA) has announced that NPC chair Raymund Liboro will lead a Covid-19 Taskforce that will drive practical responses to privacy issues emerging from the pandemic.

Even as it asked Covid-19 patients to truthfully disclose their health status to protect medical frontliners, the DOH assured that their data will only be divulged to public health authorities and health care providers for purposes of contact tracing and management of the disease.

The NPC said the breach notifications involved the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive personal information of suspect, probable, and confirmed Covid-19 patients.

The National Association of Data Protection Officers of the Philippines (NADPOP) said it should be the sole discretion of a Covid-19 patient whether or not to disclose his or her health information.

The National Privacy Commission stressed that even in times of calamity or a state of a public health emergency, privacy rights “remain in effect and upholding them equate to protecting lives.”