Published
By Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat
Personal Information
Controllers (PICs) in the country has until March 31 this year to submit their
2017 Annual Security Incident Report to the National Privacy Commission (NPC).
The law requires all
PICs to submit an Annual Security Incident Report, even if the PIC concerned
does not need to register with the NPC. The Annual Security Incident Report
contains information on the security incidents that affect personal data under
a PIC’s control, including the number of security incidents that affect
personal data in each calendar year.
Under the various
circulars of the NPC, PICs must document adverse events that have an impact on
the availability, integrity, or confidentiality of personal data, even if these
adverse events prove unsuccessful.
These events are
defined in Philippine data privacy laws as security incidents.
Section 3 of the law
defines “security incident” as an event or occurrence that affects or tends to
affect data protection, or may compromise the availability, integrity, and
confidentiality of personal data. It shall include incidents that would result
to a personal data breach, if not for safeguards that have been put in place.
It goes without saying
that data breaches that must be reported within 72 hours to the NPC and to the
affected data subjects must be included in the Annual Security Incident Report.
It also provides that
where a brute force attack into a database containing personal information was
stopped by a timely intervention on the part of the PICs information security
team, that event should also be included in the Annual Security Incident
Report.
With more reason, an
unauthorized alteration in a database that alters the personal records of an
individual, to that individual’s detriment, must be included in the Annual
Security Incident Report.
In contrast, a cyberattack
that successfully uncovers industrial secrets that do not involve the
processing of personal data is not considered as a security incident under
Philippine data privacy laws, and as such, does not need to be included in the
Annual Security Incident Report.
Privacy Commissioner
and Chairman Raymund Enriquez Liboro said the window is meant to give PICs
ample time to prepare a complete report. “We want to give PICs ample
opportunity to audit their privacy program and improve their organization’s efficiency
in the way they manage their security incidents. These reports are an essential
signpost of any PIC’s commitment to protecting the personal data of its
customers and employees. I encourage the PICs concerned to check the NPC
website for further guidance,” Liboro said.
“When properly
collated, the data becomes an invaluable management resource that enables a PIC
to assess its reaction time for every crucial event. From the moment an
incident occurred to its discovery, and to the time it took for the internal
breach response team to properly diagnose the situation, decide on an action,
deploy contingency measures and notify the NPC if necessary. The PIC must find
ways to reduce time lags whenever possible. It amounts to mitigating potential
harm to data subjects,” he added.
To submit the 2017
annual report, a PIC may send the document on or before the deadline via email
to complaints@privacy.gov.ph.
Under Philippine data
privacy laws, a PIC is a person or organization (including all public and
private entities) who controls the collection, holding, processing or use of
personal information.
The term also includes
a person or organization who instructs another person or organization to
collect, hold, process, use, transfer or disclose personal information on his
or her behalf.
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