The Philippines highlighted major progress in curbing online piracy and strengthening cooperation with e-commerce platforms in its latest submission to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) for the 2025 Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy Review.
Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) secretary Henry Aguda has clarified his stance on the controversial World App project, saying he respects the authority of the National Privacy Commission (NPC) to decide on the legal issues surrounding the iris-scanning technology.
World.org in the Philippines, the local arm of Tools for Humanity (TFH), the company co-founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, has challenged the National Privacy Commission (NPC)’s cease-and-desist order (CDO) against its operations in the Philippines, calling it a “setback for responsible digital innovation” and a reversal of a year-long compliance process undertaken with Philippine authorities.
A growing rift within the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) over the controversial World.org iris-scanning program has drawn sharp criticism from data privacy advocates — including former National Privacy Commission (NPC) chair Raymund Liboro — who warned that the technology risks “turning human eyes into economic assets” and exploiting the poor under the guise of digital inclusion.
The National Association of Data Protection Officers of the Philippines (NADPOP) and the Philippine Computer Emergency Response Team (PH-CERT) have expressed support for the National Privacy Commission’s (NPC) cease-and-desist order against Tools for Humanity (TFH) while calling for an independent privacy and cybersecurity audit to strengthen transparency and public trust.
The National Privacy Commission (NPC) has ordered Tools for Humanity (TFH), the company behind the World App and its Orb biometric verification system, to immediately stop collecting and processing personal and biometric data in the Philippines for allegedly violating the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (DPA).
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has designated Nathaniel S. Arevalo, deputy director general for policy, legal and external relations, as acting director general of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), following the resignation of IPOPHL chief Brigitte M. da Costa-Villaluz.
The expanded classification will allow more young innovators to access IPOPHL programs such as the Youth Intellectual Property Incentive (YIPI) Program, which grants fee waivers for intellectual property applications and provides technical assistance and capacity-building opportunities.
The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has declared Jollibee as the country’s first registered “well-known mark”, marking a milestone in the implementation of new rules designed to provide stronger intellectual property (IP) protection for leading brands.
Raymund Liboro, the country’s first privacy commissioner, said Agap party-list representative Nicanor Briones — who was photographed viewing the video while Congress was in session — was in a public venue, performing official duties, and under live coverage, therefore had a “diminished expectation of privacy.”
