As the SM Group remains committed to ensuring and maintaining in-depth data privacy standards as a core component of corporate governance, the National Privacy Commission has recently commended SM Group’s retail arm, SM Retail, notching the NPC Seal of Registration Compliance Excellence Award for the Private Sector during the National Data Privacy Conference.

The NPC Seal of Registration Compliance Excellence Award recognizes private sector organizations that uphold transparency and accountability through the visible display of their NPC Seal of Registration across their operations and digital touchpoints.

“We are grateful for this recognition from NPC. We understand how critical data governance is in maintaining customer trust and loyalty. This award reflects the collective effort of the different business units across SM Retail to strengthen data privacy compliance and awareness,” shared Jonathan Ng, president of SM Retail.

Apart from the citation, SM Retail was also recognized as a finalist for Privacy Initiative of the Year, a recognition of the company’s significant efforts in further educating its employees through data privacy learning channels, modules, and learning sessions.

These are key initiatives aimed at strengthening privacy awareness across the organization.

“These programs promote the responsible handling of personal data as part of everyday work using practical, retail-specific scenarios to make privacy more relevant and actionable for employees,” Ng stressed.

SM Retail’s data protection officer, Leyson San Juan, was also named a Finalist for Data Protection Officer of the Year for the second consecutive year.

These recognitions follow SM Retail’s Privacy Management Program Award win last year.

The awarding ceremony in Parañaque was held during the Privacy Awareness Week, an annual celebration dedicated to strengthening data privacy awareness and promoting responsible personal data processing in the Philippines.