The National Privacy Commission (NPC) vowed to investigate and check the legitimacy of the online lending app (OLA) UNA Credit after a sports vlogger cried foul over harassment allegedly committed by the OLA, including receiving foul language and threats over a supposed debt.

Kevin De Jesus, a sports vlogger covering volleyball tournaments, said he did not apply for any loan at UNA Credit, but the OLA, through a third-party credit collector, is sending harsh and curse words to him and to all of his contacts on his mobile phone.

“These intimidating and harsh words are now causing me anxiety attacks. Alam ko hindi lang ako nakakaranas nito, marami pa kami,” De Jesus said.

With this, De Jesus sought the help of the NPC, which admitted that, to date, it has been receiving voluminous complaints against various OLAs.

NPC’s communications department personnel, Roren Milan Chin, in a Viber interview, maintained that OLAs are not allowed to access the phone numbers of borrowers, adding that they are partnering with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to verify if erring OLAs have the pertinent permits to operate.

“But generally, they cannot access your contacts without your consent and permission. SEC verifies the authenticity of OLAs, as we don’t have a database on that. We have very limited assistance when it comes to debt collection and verification of companies,” she said.

They then urged victims of harassing text messages from third-party credit collectors to report and file a complaint with the NPC through this link: https://privacy.gov.ph/filing-a-complaint/#5.

In 2023, NPC Commissioner John Henry Naga insisted that the guidelines on the processing of personal data for loan transactions have been amended, providing stricter provisions on mobile phone camera and contact list access sought from borrowers.

The newly issued guidelines, which amended NPC Circular No. 2020-01, address data privacy concerns amid the prevalence of online lending.

“NPC Circular No. 2022–02 provides amendments that will serve as an added protection to both borrowers and lending companies. The NPC aims for smooth transactions between the two parties, where borrowers are afforded their data privacy rights and lending companies are allowed to ethically conduct their business and establish trust among their customers,” according to Naga.

Further, the NPC maintained that lenders may ask for contact list access from borrowers, subject to certain conditions.

“Online lending applications must have separate interfaces where borrowers can provide character references and guarantors of their own choosing. Lenders may only be provided limited access and only to the minimum extent necessary to allow the borrowers to choose from their phone contact list their character references and guarantors,” the NPC commissioner noted.

In February this year, personnel of the National Bureau of Investigation and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) stormed a Makati office, allegedly a hub of several online lending applications that harass borrowers.

Based on their investigation, the lending apps offered loans that were approved quickly but with skyrocketing interest rates and were accepted by borrowers in need of instant cash.

PAOCC Executive Director Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz said the first requirement for the apps was a loan applicant's contacts and photo gallery.

Moreover, Cruz said, even if a loan isn’t paid, another lending app would offer a loan to pay the existing obligation until the borrower is drowning in debt.