We are pleased to share with you our March occasional paper, entitled “Crossing Data Privacy Lines: Implementing the Philippines National ID System” written by Mr. Allen Surla, a senior faculty member of De La Salle University’s Political Science Department and the Assistant Dean for External Affairs and Lasallian Mission of the College of Liberal Arts. The paper discusses the data privacy in the Philippines, especially in terms of the Philippine National ID System.

With the growing dependence on information technology and its contribution to accessibility and accountability, the government has used the digitalization to further improve the delivery of government services. Data has been coined as the “new oil” of today’s digital society. However, efficiency on collection and management may become an issue with all the threats surrounding it, including concerns on data privacy and hacking.

The Philippine government recently approved the passage of the Philippine National ID System in August 2018. Given the data breach issues of Comeleaks and the DFA passport information leaks, doubts have been raised on the ability of the government to implement the law whilst ensuring the confidentiality of the identification system. Different actors must take precautions and actively ensure the protection of their data.

This paper further discusses details on the different issues on implementation, and suggests ways forward on enforcing and further developing privacy laws, which we hope you will find useful and interesting.

(DOWNLOAD HERE)