NPC conducts privacy compliance sweep for banks

MANILA, Philippines — The National Privacy Commission (NPC) is conducting a privacy sweep on mobile applications used by banks to ensure their compliance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012.

During the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) Business Journalism Seminar over the weekend, NPC commissioner Raymund Liboro said they are working on a permission-based privacy sweep on banks.

This particularly checks among the banks asking the most permission for personal information from clients using their website or mobile banking applications.

“We can check your website, we can check your mobile app. We will see if there are potential violations (to the data privacy act),” Liboro said.

Those found with violations will be issued compliance orders. 

“You have to prove to us that the information you are asking is necessary to provide value of service,” Liboro said.

Liboro said only cases of those who failed to comply will be forwarded to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for prosecution.

This privacy compliance sweep will be done for all industries, but the NPC is starting with banks, according to Liboro.

The NPC commissioner said results of the privacy compliance sweep for banks would be released in May during the Privacy Awareness Week.

The privacy sweep is one method of companies’ compliance to the Data Privacy Act. Other methods include onsite visits and document submission.

The NPC, which serves as the country’s privacy watchdog, is mandated to administer the Data Privacy Act of 2012.

It also seeks to ensure compliance of the country with international standards set for data protection.