Republic Act 10173 – Data Privacy Law and Compliance
This law is also known as “Data Privacy Act of 2012” which seeks to protect all forms of
information, may it be private, personal, or sensitive. This law is also meant to protect from those
who should not have any legal access to any particular document or information and to be
secured on who can access all these. In addition, it applies to any natural or juridical persons
involved in the processing of personal information. The scope of its coverage are those who uses
equipment located in the Philippines even though it was not found or established in the country,
and those that maintains office, branch, or agency in the Philippines.
It is important to have this kind of law in order to protect the privacy of common
individuals while ensuring that there is still a free flow of information. Moreover, according to
the National Privacy Commission, this helps in regulating the process of collection, recording,
organization, storage, updating or modification, retrieval, consultation, use, consolidation,
blocking, erasure or destruction of personal data.
The following are some of the highlighted features from DPA:
Section 18. Principles of Transparency, Legitimate Purpose and Proportionality. The processing
of personal data shall be allowed subject to adherence to the principles of transparency,
legitimate purpose, and proportionality.
Section 19. General principles in collection, processing and retention. The processing of
personal data shall adhere to the following general principles in the collection, processing, and
retention of personal data:
a. Collection must be for a declared, specified, and legitimate purpose.
b. Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully.
c. Processing should ensure data quality.
d. Personal Data shall not be retained longer than necessary.
e. Any authorized further processing shall have adequate safeguards.
Section 20. General Principles for Data Sharing. Further Processing of Personal Data collected
from a party other than the Data Subject shall be allowed under any of the following conditions:
a. Data sharing shall be allowed when it is expressly authorized by law: Provided, that there are
adequate safeguards for data privacy and security, and processing adheres to principle of
transparency, legitimate purpose and proportionality.
b. Data Sharing shall be allowed in the private sector if the data subject consents to data
sharing, and the following conditions are complied with:
c. Data collected from parties other than the data subject for purpose of research shall be
allowed when the personal data is publicly available, or has the consent of the data subject for
purpose of research: Provided, that adequate safeguards are in place, and no decision directly
affecting the data subject shall be made on the basis of the data collected or processed. The
rights of the data subject shall be upheld without compromising research integrity.
d. Data sharing between government agencies for the purpose of a public function or provision
of a public service shall be covered a data sharing agreement.
In today’s modern time, data privacy is important not just in our personal lives but also
considering the companies that are transcending towards modernization. The firms that
commonly have competitors or those that are doing well in their respective industries are often
target of security breaches. Without the protection from data privacy, these breaches can cause
problems to both the company and its customers because of possible sensitive information that
might be abused. In line with this, every business is required to comply with the regulation of
data privacy in order to ensure that no sensitive data gets misused.
The firms that comply with DPA is a symbol of showcasing good economic decisions
since aside from saving time and money, it promotes good reputation because it shows people
and possible customers that you care for their personal information in great value. Considering
an auditing firm as an example, the DPA prove its benefit to the firm because it promotes the
safeguards of valuable information, which is a critical asset to the company. There are numerous
entities that sends their data and financial information for audit and an auditing firm’s
compliance with data privacy law ensures that all these information would not be accessed by
unwanted individuals. One of the prime examples for this is that data information sent into the
firm would not be seen by all the employees but only the auditors in charge.
REFERENCES
A summary of RA No. 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012. ECC International. (2020).
Retrieved May 23, 2022, from https://eccinternational.com/ra-10173-data-privacysummary/#:~:text=10173%20or%20the%20Data%20Privacy%20Act%20of%202012%20(
DPA)%20%E2%80%9C,communications%20systems%20in%20government%20and
Data Privacy Act Primer. National Privacy Commission. (2021). Retrieved May 23, 2022, from
https://www.privacy.gov.ph/data-privacy-act-primer/
Implementing rules and regulations of the Data Privacy Act of 2012. National Privacy
Commission.
(2021).
Retrieved
May
23,
2022,
from
https://www.privacy.gov.ph/implementing-rules-regulations-data-privacy-act-2012/#18
What is the scope of the Data Privacy Act? Data Privacy Philippines. (n.d.). Retrieved May 23,
2022, from https://www.privacy.com.ph/learn-data-privacy-compliance/what-is-the-scopeof-the-data-privacy-act/