The Philippines introduced the National Privacy Commission (NPC) Registration System (NPCRS), which included simple tracking of enrolment requests/approval, a secure gateway for the monitoring unit to access registration data, and real-time insight into the validation of mandatory documents.
It will also enable accurate data collection from sectors and subsectors, reliable verification of active or inactive registration, retrieval of contact information for their data protection officer (DPO), and easy production of documents such as a registration certificate or analytical reports on registered entities.
“The registration system was designed and created with privacy, security, and operations in mind” (DevSecOps). Before making changes involving personal data processing and the system went live, Privacy Impact Assessments were performed throughout the planning,” Rainier Anthony Milanes, chief of the NPC’s Compliance and Monitoring Division, declared.
By facilitating online registration of data processing systems, the NPCS is considered to make compliance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012 easier for both government and private entities. He reiterated that the circular addresses problems when implementing previous circulars on common or numerous DPOs.
“It also contains new laws, such as the necessity to show the NPC mark of registration, which will offer data subjects the necessary assurance that companies processing their data have fulfilled the first level of DPA compliance,” Milanes explained.
It is being created concurrently with the completion of NPC Circular No. 2022-04, dated December 5, 2022, and headed registration of personal data processing systems, notification on automated decision-making or profiling, designation of DPO, and the NPC seal of registration. The circular went into effect on January 11.
Section 5 of the circular requires PICs or PIPs that employ 250 or more people, process sensitive personal information of 1,000 or more people, or process data that may likely jeopardise data subjects’ liberties to register all their data processing systems.
According to NPC Commissioner John Henry Naga, the NPCRS and the implementation of the Data Breach Notification Management System in April 2022 are part of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s marching order of digitalising government services.
The Philippines, on the other hand, expanded e-commerce regulation with the proposed Internet Transactions Act and planned to establish an electronic commerce (e-commerce) agency. Its objective is to regulate all business-to-business and business-to-consumer commercial transactions conducted over the internet, including those involving internet retail, online travel services, digital media providers, ride-hailing services, and digital financial services. The House of Representatives approved the bill’s final reading.
The role of the e-commerce bureau is to protect consumers and merchants who conduct internet transactions. The bureau will also represent the “central authority” regulating online trade and will function as a virtual one-stop shop for customer complaints about internet transactions. During the plenary session, the plan was advanced, with 245 members voting in favour of House Bill 4. There were no votes against the bill or abstentions.
As data value has expanded recently, several countries have updated their data protection bill. China has taken steps to design regulations that would promote the effective use and circulation of public, personal, and corporate data while adhering to rules and strengthening governance over data resources. It has also emphasised the significance of having a system that assures the secure and legal data flow over the border.
According to a National Development and Reform Commission official, the new laws are intended to encourage the lawful and efficient use of data to stimulate the real economy and allow people to share the benefits of the digital economy’s growth. According to the official, the proposed laws will enable the country to respond to the global technological revolution and industrial transformation while increasing its international competitiveness.
