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.
The NPC said the Data Privacy Act is not a hindrance to contact tracing initiatives, stressing that it seeks to protect individuals from discrimination, harassment, and acts of social vigilantism amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
To set privacy measures to a maximum and better ensure the safety of data subjects, the National Privacy Commission (NPC) said it will now pseudonymize names in cases it publishes on its website.
The National Privacy Commission (NPC) said it has adopted videoconferencing to reduce the risks of coronavirus infections posed by face-to-face hearings.
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.”
Sen. Franklin Drilon also said the fact of death is not sensitive personal information protected by the Data Privacy Act and that a death certificate is in fact a public document required to be filed upon any person's death.
The telemedicine guidelines comes after the DOH and the National Privacy Commission released an earlier joint memorandum circular allowing the use of telemedicine as a way to respond to the Covid-19 health crisis.
