Nat’l Privacy Commission probes 11 establishments for alleged data breach

MANILA, Philippines — Eleven establishments are under investigation after complaints surfaced that the personal data of customers were being used aside from contact tracing, the National Privacy Commission (NPC) said Tuesday.

“Ang aming initial [report] po, labing-isang establishments at sila po ay tinatawag po namin,” NPC Commissioner Raymund Liboro said in an interview over Teleradyo.

(Our initial report, we have called on 11 establishments.)

“Ipatatawag ho namin at [hingan] sila ng paliwanag at ma-remind sila dito sa kanilang obligasyon to secure personal data,” he added.

(We will call them, and ask them for an explanation, as well as remind them of their obligation to secure personal data.)

Liboro said that this comes after complaints surged the NPC that customers’ data collated from establishments were being used for other purposes.

“May mga reports na nagagamit yung data nila for other purposes, for marketing ay yan naman po ay unauthorized purpose,” he said.

(There are reports that their data is being used for other purposes such as marketing, and that is already for unauthorized purpose.)

Liboro said that one factor that may have contributed to this was that logbooks, where customers write their personal information for contact tracing purposes, were usually left open.

“Hindi nakakatulong yung mga nakatiwang-wang na logbook na ‘yan para pasukin sila ng mga parokyano. So ‘yan ay dapat nila baguhin,” the commissioner said.

(The logbooks that are left open do not help, so they can be entertained. They need to correct that.)

And if establishments do not abide by the NPC guidelines, they will face penalties.

“[K]ung hindi nila tutugunan ay maaaring maharap po sila sa penalties for unauthorized processing,” he said.

(If they will not abide by this, they may face penalties for unauthorized processing.)

JPV