House committees start deliberating privacy bill

MANILA, Philippines - The House has started tackling a bill seeking to protect an individual's personal information from abuse while beefing up security on sensitive information maintained by government. The House Committees on Government Reorganization and on Information and Communications Technology are now tackling House Bill 3828, which penalizes the unauthorized processing of personal data with imprisonment from 6 to 12 years and imposes a fine of P1 to P3 million. "To date, there is no single agency, which handles data protection in the country," noted Camarines Norte Rep. Liwayway Vinzons-Chato, main proponent of the measure, in an article on the House of Representatives Web site (www.congress.gov.ph). Under the said proposed measure, processing of personal data for unauthorized purposes would be punishable with imprisonment of six to eight years and a fine of P500,000 to P1 million. Zamboanga City Rep. Erico Basilio Fabian, chairman of the Government Reorganization Committee, lauded the objective of the bill, which also provides for the creation of a National Data Protection Commission that will register controllers and processors to ensure that data protection principles are followed. The bill, also known as the "Data Protection Act," said giant leaps in technology in recent years make government databases vulnerable to unauthorized intrusions by hackers. Vinzons-Chato noted that the increasing sophistication of information technology with its capacity to collect, analyze, and disseminate information on individuals requires the passage of a measure such as this – despite the existence of constitutional guarantees and laws upholding the right to privacy of citizens. Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Armando Suratos said the measure would have an impact on BSP's functions where personal data are obtained or required from clients and other entities – such as in its supervision and examination function, lending, and rediscounting transactions, bidding process, payment of bills through electronic means and in the BSP’s personnel information. Justice Assistant Secretary Geronimo Sy added the DOJ "supports a privacy bill to work out the extent of the right to privacy enshrined in the Constitution." But he said there would be a need for deep consultations since many issues should be considered. Also present during the hearing to share their expertise were Malcolm Crompton, former Australia's Privacy Commissioner and Paula Bruening, former Senior Attorney Adviser at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the US Department of Commerce, as well as Joseph Alhadeff, Oracle's chief privacy officer. - GMANews.TV