philippines data security act BPO

With the ratification of the Data Privacy Act and the government’s effort in strengthening its adherence by businesses and the IT-BPM industry comprising of companies, the National Privacy Commission held the fifth Data Protection Officers (DPO) assembly last month, in the SMX Center in SM Aura Bonifacio Global City Taguig.

In attendance were personnel from the National Privacy Commission, IT Security officers and key representatives from the IT-BPM industry.

The gathering was an annual organized meeting between the movers of the country’s data security act and how it progresses. This year’s theme was the challenges facing the mandate of the Data Act and how the DPO will work with their respective organizations in utility of the scope of work needed to act in preparation, adherence and the cases of recovery amidst disasters or breaches.

With the country’s BPO counting itself as among the world’s top providers for data processing services across industries such as healthcare, retail and customer details, the Data Privacy Act encourages improvement on securing the data entrusted by businesses to the BPOs operating in the country. In defining a well-managed data privacy protocol, the IT-BPM industry in the country is not just merely encouraged to adhere, but also make the conscious effort in navigating successful adoption rates of new security based technology in order to secure themselves against the growing sophistication of threats ranging from cybercriminals and breaches caused by malware.

In a recent privacy survey, it is revealed that there is a growing awareness and concern of data processing privacy from Filipinos who participated in the said survey. Out of the 1,200 adult  participants, 85 percent believe that individual rights are paramount when it comes to divulging personal information needed for processing. 94 percent also said that they would also like to know on how personal data are being used when they choose to entrust it to an organization or institution.

Another survey conducted in 2015 revealed that data privacy is now the primary concern by consumers instead of the quality of service.

The lack of security and recovery contingency by local businesses has been a cause of concern for the government leading to the year when the data privacy act was ratified. The act empowers businesses and the IT-BPM companies to appoint a DPO and work with that appointed officer to thoroughly study their enterprise data structure in order to make the first step necessary in securing it. Businesses are encouraged to seek out security audit companies in order to help facilitate the security process.

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