The National Privacy Commission (NPC) has issued a circular in response to numerous complaints that online lenders were illegally using personal data of clients and those of others on their contact lists, causing damage to their reputation and violating their rights as data subjects.
As a privacy advocate, I feel there are so many other things to be said about how the government has handled this task of helping businesses set up their respective contact tracing systems.
The NPC said the chief concerns were the improper use of logbooks and the lack of appropriate data-protection measures that left in the open filled-out contact-tracing forms that contain customers' data, such as names, addresses and contact details, which other people could see.
The guidelines cover areas such as online decorum, learning management systems, online productivity platforms, social media, storage of personal data, webcams and recording videos of discussions, and proctoring.
The suggestion of some business groups to temporarily suspend the Data Privacy Act (DPA) is wrong in so many ways, ill-conceived, shortsighted, and ultimately irresponsible.
Among the guidelines contained in Advisory No. 2020-1 that the Data Privacy Council Education Sector issued recently is that schools must consider getting the consent of the parent or legal guardian of students below 18 years old before webcam-supported online discussions are recorded.
The statement comes in light of inquiries and information communicated to National Privacy Commission that private establishments as well as some government agencies collect signatures and other personal data that are immaterial in contact-tracing efforts.
The National Privacy Commission (NPC) has warned the Philippine National Police (PNP) that it cannot go beyond the boundaries set by law for its plan to monitor social media for quarantine violators.
Eight and four years into their existence, the Data Privacy Act and the National Privacy Commission respectively are at a crucial junction. If they are to remain relevant not just in the local regulatory ecosystem, but in the overall consciousness of Filipinos and residents alike, they have to confront difficult issues head on and with consistency.
NPC chair Raymund E. Liboro said that a survey it conducted showed that contact tracing and location tracking ranked as the most pressing privacy issue for many jurisdictions and organizations globally.
