By Sofia Baldonado
A former Supreme Court of the Philippines (SC) attorney discouraged the attendees of a De La Salle University – Dasmariñas’ Social Sciences Department webinar event from posting Personal Health Information (PHI) on social media, due to the risks of data privacy invasion.
In the third episode of the “uSAPan: A Sociopolitical Advocacy Project” on Wednesday, Oct. 27, titled, “Keeping One’s Affairs Private in this Digital World”, Atty. Jannel Gerodiaz raised her concerns about the people who share photos of their COVID-19 vaccination cards online without realizing that the PHI they are exposing could be easily collected for identity theft, unauthorized bank transactions, or other cybercrime purposes.
“Minsan, ipino-post nila ‘yung vaccination cards, ang iniisip nila, ‘Wow! I have to [let] people know that I am [already] vaccinated.’ ‘Yung ibang tao hindi nila [na-re-realize] ‘yan, ang bilis na gayahin, ang bilis na i-Photoshop niyan,” she stressed.
Atty. Gerodiaz also expressed her take regarding the danger of sharing medical abstracts online, where she claimed the details can be used to support fraudulent solicitation activities.
“A lot of people post their medical abstracts on Facebook, sige, ‘yung iba granted, nanghihingi ng tulong, nanghihingi ng ayuda, o gusto lang nila mag-share [online], pero delikado pa rin ‘yan, because some individuals could use those medical abstracts to solicit other people.”
With all the threats cited, the former (SC) attorney underlined the services offered by the National Privacy Commission (NPC), with its established Data Privacy Act of 2012.
She mentioned an example where the act to protect individuals’ personal data should be implemented.
“[Applicable ‘to] sa mga organizations na nag-co-collect ng mga [PHI]. Madami ‘yan lalo na ngayong pandemic, bawat kibot susulat kayo ng health declaration forms. Your [PHI] should never be collected, processed and stored by any organization without your explicit consent.” she explained.
Atty. Gerodiaz concluded her discussion by strongly encouraging viewers to recognize their rights covered in the NPC provisions and to address complaints to the NPC if their data gets violated.
To file a complaint or affidavit concerning personal data privacy violation, visit the NPC official website or check the complete mechanics for the complaints directly through the link below:
