Republic Act No. 10173

 Republic Act No. 10173

Reflection

With the advances in information technology, privacy in personal data has become deceptive. For the right price or with good connections, private information disclosed in confidence to companies or government offices can be made available to or accessed by interested parties. With the power that follows information, it is in the interest of the State to govern the parameters by which such power will be held, while at the same time ensuring the free flow of information to promote innovation and growth. Data protection is important because of increased usage of computers and computer systems in certain industries that deal with private information, such as finance and healthcare. Because people have rights to privacy in their personal medical and financial information, it is vital that administrators in charge of systems handling this information are capable of protecting that data, according to the Department of International Law for the Organization of American States.

The Republic Act No. 10175 or the cyber-crime prevention act is is a Philippine Republic Act signed by President Aquino on 12 September 2012. It aims to address legal issues concerning online interactions. Among the cyber crime offenses included in the bill are cyber squatting, cyber sex  child pornography, identity theft, illegal access to data and libel. But the new Act received mixed reactions upon its enactment especially on the grounds of freedom of expression, freedom of speech and data security. Several petitions are currently submitted to the Supreme Court of the Philippines questioning the constitutionality of the Act. Personal information is defined as “any information whether recorded in material form or not, from which the identity of an individual is apparent or can be reasonably and directly ascertained by the entity holding the information.” Data Privacy Act of 2012 protects all forms of information that are personal, private or privileged. It covers all persons, whether natural or juridical, with particular emphasis to companies or juridical entities involved in the processing of protected information.

It applies to the processing of all types of personal information and to any natural or juridical person involved in personal information processing including those personal information controllers and processors who, although not found in the Philippines, use equipment that are located in the Philippines or those who maintain an office, branch or agency in the Philippines subject to succeeding paragraph; provided that the requirements of section 5 are complied with.

Data privacy can be a juggling act in multinational organizations when it comes to fulfilling the needs of the organization and complying with local privacy laws. Ultimately, data privacy boils down to protecting the information held about individuals to prevent others from accessing their personal information and/or stealing their identity.

From the perspective of citizens and individuals, the State also protects their fundamental human rights to privacy of communication. And with the exponentially increasing availability of ways and means to access personal data and information, it becomes the duty of the State to guard against transgressions of the individual’s rights. Any person violates this act shall be penalized according to its  Section 33 - Combination or Series of Acts : Any combination or series of acts as defined in section 25-32 shall make the person subject to imprisonment ranging from 3-6 years and a fine of not less than 1 Million but not more than 5 Million pesos.