The DPO COMPLex

Promoting a culture of privacy requires the institutionalization of systems and processes that balances key processing activities of the government, and the rights and freedoms of citizens.

The government is one of the biggest repositories of personal data in the country, and its data processing activities are expected to grow as the Philippines pursues its vision of a data-driven digital future. To support this vision, it is important to maintain the citizen’s trust in the way government agencies and instrumentalities collect, use, disclose and share their personal data. This can be achieved by building the foundation of a culture of privacy in the government workplace.

Promoting a culture of privacy requires the institutionalization of systems and processes that balances key processing activities of the government, and the rights and freedoms of citizens. This requires organizational, physical and technical measures to be instituted in agencies to effectively protect the data privacy of Filipinos. The National Privacy Commission (NPC) has taken an initial step in this direction when it conducted the First Digital Data Governance in the Public Sector Conference during the Privacy Awareness Week (PAW) last 24 May 2019.

We intend to build on the momentum that has been generated by PAW with a follow-through activity, which aims to enrich the knowledge of privacy practitioners in the government, as well as to develop necessary skills for them to build effective and impactful privacy programs.

On 13-14 November 2019, a two-day workshop, titled DPO COMPLex (COMPLex stands for experiential compliance) Workshop in the Public Sector, is going to be conducted by the NPC for government agencies and instrumentalities.

We are inviting data protection officers from national government agencies, government-owned and controlled corporations and state colleges and universities to attend. The workshop will include various privacy-related topics focused on areas where government agencies struggle in their compliance programs. The interactive workshop will also include topics on privacy challenges government agencies are facing.

1. Prepare and maintain records of processing activities of their agencies and create multi-layered privacy notices using these;

2. Perform a privacy impact assessment in accordance with NPC Advisory 17-03

3. Identify the appropriate criteria/legal basis for their agency’s personal data processing activities;

4. Employ security measures required under NPC Circular 16-01 on security of personal data in government agencies;

5. Prepare and implement data sharing agreements in accordance with NPC Circular 16-02, when applicable; and

6. Establish personal data breach management procedures for their respective agencies in accordance with NPC Circular 16-03.

Data privacy and protection is not an ideology but a set of skills that every accountable organization must develop. The DPO COMPLex workshop would definitely boost the efforts of privacy champions in government to serve the public more effectively.

For any questions/inquiries regarding the details of the workshop, feel free to call or text Mr. Cleo R. Martinez, Policy Advisor for Government Sector, at 0936-0432973 and 02-8234-2228 local 118.