THE National Privacy Commission (NPC) will send out invitations on Monday (January 14) to relevant bodies and officials for the start of a “fact-finding” into the alleged impoundment by a private contractor of the personal data of Filipino passport holders, as revealed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr.
The chief of the NPC, Commissioner Raymond Liboro, said on Sunday the case involved “many Filipinos, so we exercised our motu proprio powers” to investigate the matter and ensure the rights of citizens under the 2012 Data Privacy Act are respected.
He said two things in this controversy warrant motu proprio action by NPC: it is “large scale in nature” and involves sensitive personal information of citizens, which are protected by law. In a case of breach, the personal information controllers and the contractors could have “serious” liability, according to Liboro.
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana expressed concern over the matter. “If true, then it is a very grave security concern and quite alarming. These are personal information such as full name, date and place of birth and other information that could be used illegally,” said Lorenzana on Sunday.
Locsin disclosed in a series of tweets that the database containing the personal information of Filipino passport holders had been carted away by a company to whom passport production was previously outsourced by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). The company supposedly did this after its contract was not renewed.
He did not name the contractor, but National Security Adviser Hermogenes C. Esperon Jr. identified it as a “French Co.,” adding that its contract had been
terminated in 2009.
Locsin said the series of events began during the term of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and got worse during the term of her successor, former President Benigno S. Aquino III. He said it is now the Duterte administration that is
trying to fix the problem as he vowed to look into the mess.
Since it is a national concern, Lorenzana said the Department of National Defense (DND) will work with the DFA in order to minimize the effects of the data loss.
Trust in digital
Meanwhile, Liboro urged everyone to be “calm,” adding that, “at this point we are not prejudging anyone …Let’s be circumspect.” Nonetheless, Liboro said the issue is of critical importance to the future of governance in the country because, “if the government is to transform, it must transform digitally,” and privacy breaches involving government processes could erode public confidence in digital projects.
In a radio interview, Liboro said all parties that had a role in subcontracting the passport production enterprise by the government’s APO Printing to a private subcontractor could be held accountable if it is true the subcontractor “ran away” with the data of Filipino passport holders when its contract was not renewed. It was not clear who exactly ran off with the data—the French contractor in Arroyo’s time, or the subcontractor of APO in the time of President Benigno S. Aquino III.
Locsin earlier vowed to punish those behind the passport deal that had inconvenienced many Filipinos, especially those renewing their passports.
The DFA chief revealed the alleged data loss in the course of explaining to ordinary citizens, especially OFWs, why the DFA was still requiring them to present birth certificates even for mere renewal of passports.
“While you will simply need a copy of your existing passport to renew it, you will need additional documentation if you need a new one. This means collecting vital records including your birth certificate or other original proof of citizenship document, a photo ID and photocopies of your photo ID,” the web site said on its May 2, 2018, post.
Yasay’s post
Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay waded in and shed light on the passport mess.
Yasay said that on August 1, 2006, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the DFA had entered a memorandum of agreement (MOA) covering the procurement and centralized production of machine readable electronic passports in compliance with the standards required by the International Civil Aviation Organization
To implement its obligations under the MOA, the BSP awarded, through bidding, the main part of the project to Francois-Charles Oberthur Fiduciare of France through its office in Makati, Yasay revealed.
Reports by Recto L. Mercene, Butch Fernandez and Rene Acosta