Celebrate Filipino Data Privacy Rights on Privacy Awareness Week 2018 --NPC
In the wake of the recent spate of media reports linked to data breaches and other privacy-related concerns, the National Privacy Commission (NPC) is urging business, government and civil society organizations to participate in the upcoming Privacy Awareness Week (PAW) on May 28 to 31 and publicly commit to the safeguarding of people’s personal data.
Privacy Commissioner Raymund Enriquez Liboro said the privacy issues that recently struck the food service industry should be taken as a wake-up call for the entire business community as well as all organizations that process personal data.
"There's no better time than today to combat the growing threats to the safety of our personal data. And there's no better way to do this than as a community, which is what the PAW activities hope to foster," Liboro said.
PAW is a celebration of people's data privacy rights along with all the benefits of data privacy protection, such as better customer trust, greater competitive advantage and stronger protection of company assets.
"All of us are data subjects so PAW is a community celebration. For organizations, it means showcasing your sense of responsibility and assuring your customers and constituents that the personal data they entrusted you is in good hands. For the rest of us, it's a reminder that we can assert our data privacy rights, that we have a personal responsibility to protect it however we can," Liboro said.
With this year's theme focused on "Protecting the Filipino's Right to Data Privacy", the NPC spearheads the weeklong festivities with a 2-day summit of data protection officers (DPOs) from various sectors all over the country. Dubbed as the 1st National Data Privacy Conference, the flagship event is set on May 28 - 29, at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.
Around 2,000 DPOs are expected to join the event, comprising of delegates from the academe, civil society, top corporations and the government.
During the conference, the NPC will also launch a year-long social awareness campaign focusing on responsible digital citizenship among Filipinos. Called the “Privacy, Safety, Security and Trust (PSST!) Online” or PSST!, the campaign is aimed at arming Filipinos with the information and self-help tools they can use to protect themselves and their loved-ones from the dangers arising from the careless handling of their own personal data when using online applications and services on their mobile and desktop devices.
Personal Information Controllers (PICs) and Personal Information Processors (PIPs) or organizations processing personal data, are also expected to get into the PAW festivities in their own way, and celebrate data subject empowerment in a manner that would be meaningful to their customers, members and employees.
The Privacy Awareness Week or PAW is an annual international effort to draw public attention towards privacy issues and the importance of protecting personal information. It is held across territories of the members the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities (APPA) Forum, which include Australia, British Columbia, Canada, Colombia, Hong Kong, Japan, Republic of Korea, Macao, Mexico, New South Wales, New Zealand, Peru, Queensland, Singapore, FCC - United States, FTC - United States, Northern Territory -Australia, Victoria – Australia. This year marks the second time that the Philippines will officially celebrate PAW in solidarity with other APPA members and other privacy adherents all over the world.
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