NPC launches Privacy Awareness Week 2019 official website
The National Privacy Commission (NPC) is enjoining personal information controllers and processors in the private and public sectors to celebrate the National Privacy Week 2019 (PAW) on May 25 to 31, with the launch on Friday of its official event website: paw.privacy.gov.ph.
Pursuant to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s Proclamation No. 527 signed last year, the PAW is annually observed every last week of May in recognition of the “need to inform and educate the public about data privacy, data protection and fair information rights and responsibilities as part of reinforcing the efforts of the NPC in protecting personal data and ensuring the Philippines’ compliance with international standards set for data protection.” The PAW is also aligned with the annual effort to raise privacy awareness across member countries of the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities (APPA), which include the Philippines.
In a speech before data protection officers recently at the New World Hotel in Manila, Privacy Commissioner Raymund Enriquez Liboro announced this year's theme; “Protecting the Digital Filipino: Accountability, Compliance & Ethics in a Data-driven Philippines,” emphasizing the need to continually raise privacy safeguards. This, with a view to fully harnessing opportunities in a digital global economy.
“In a disruptive era of digital transformation, a compliance-centric mindset among personal information controllers and processors would not be enough if our goal is to truly protect the digital Filipino. What we need is to institutionalize a sense of accountability and ethics in the handling of personal data in our organizations,” Liboro said.
New Zealand, a staunch advocate of data privacy and protection, supported NPC’s soft launch with the presence of their Privacy Commissioner John Edwards. In his address to the audience, Commissioner Edwards insisted that companies equip their DPOs with the right tools and systems to ensure the secure storage of personal data and to protect it from threats and attacks. A breach notification system, for instance, helps determine the capability of an organization’s data security system.
During the event, Liboro also announced that the NPC shall hold a flagship event in celebration of PAW 2019 called the 2nd National Data Privacy Conference (NDPC). Slated on May 23 and 24 at the Philippine International Convention Center, the two-day event is by-invitation and expected to draw over 2,000 data privacy professionals.
A notable feature on day 2 of the NDPC is the First Digital Data Governance for the Public Sector, a conference within a conference aimed at driving compliance of government offices with the Data Privacy Act and other laws relevant to the protection of the digital Filipino.
“For the NDPC, we want leading stakeholders to better appreciate their leadership role in terms of compliance and the ever present need to enhance their skills. The newbies, on the other hand, will have a chance to jumpstart their understanding of the DPA and the Commission’s rules and regulations,” Liboro said.
The NDPC was first introduced to the public in 2018 to celebrate PAW.
There are five ways for organizations to celebrate PAW: generate interest; cultivate the habit of privacy mindfulness at the workplace; take pride in their efforts to protect their customers; emPAWer stakeholders by reminding them of their rights; and spreading the word using the hashtags #PAW2019 and #PrivacyPH. Data subjects, meanwhile, may practice the NPC’s 30 Ways to Love Yourself Online.
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