The NPC said the WFH setup is a viable strategy to balance the need to preserve the health and well-being of an organization’s workforce with the need to continuously operate and provide services to the public.
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 Privacy Commission said the Covid-19 apps being rolled out by the government and the private sector will only be effective if these solutions will allow users to share information without fear of misuse or discrimination.
NPC chair Raymund Liboro emphasized, however, that the disclosure should be limited to the necessary medical information and should be made only to the proper authorities.
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.”
The National Privacy Commission (NPC) has reminded government offices to avoid burdening recipients with personal data requirements that are beyond the minimum necessary, which would only impede the speedy flow of aid distribution.
NPC chair Raymund Liboro said there have been incidents in which self-styled “social vigilantes” doused chemicals on health workers, expelled them from boarding houses, or refused them lodging and even barred them from taking tricycles on their way to work or home.
The government agencies said now is the worst possible time to fall victim to online fraudsters as they can steal sensitive data, cause financial, and reputational damages, and make devices unusable.
Today, as we are in community quarantine and as we practice social distancing, telemedicine may be the answer to the need of patients seeking consult but unable to travel or unwilling to take the risk of additional exposure to the novel coronavirus.
