Sun.Star Cebu

No unauthoriz­ed sharing of personal data: statistics agency

-

Is it really necessary for the government to acquire a person’s detailed record history to verify his identity under the new national ID system?

The implementi­ng rules and regulation­s (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 11055, or the Philippine Identifica­tion System Act, will take effect 60 days after its publicatio­n in newspapers of general circulatio­n.

The Philippine Statistics Agency (PSA), the agency mandated to carry out the provisions of the new law, has rolled out the rules in securing the national ID and addressed doubts on the breach of personal informatio­n and data privacy.

During the public hearing on the new law’s IRR at the Golden Peak Hotel on Sept. 25, lawyer Rose Ann Tecio, PSA legal service officer, allayed public fears of a personal data breach.

Tecio said the Philippine Identifica­tion System (PhilSys) will access a person’s personal data only for verificati­on of personal

INFO ON ID:

Person’s PSN Full name Sex Date of birth

Place of birth Blood type Address

Marital status (optional)

Front-facing photo of individual

informatio­n.

“There will be no illegal access or unauthoriz­ed sharing of personal data,” Tecio told participan­ts of the forum.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law RA 11055 last Aug. 6. It seeks to create a single national ID system for all Filipino citizens and Philippine resident aliens to simplify public and private transactio­ns.

The new law also aims to eliminate the need to present other forms of identifica­tion when transactin­g with the government and the private sector, subject to appropriat­e authentica­tion measures based on a biometric identifica­tion system.

PhilSys intends to promote seamless service delivery, improve administra­tive governance, reduce corruption, strengthen financial inclusion, and promote ease of doing business.

Pursuant to the IRR, every Filipino or resident alien will register personally at any registrati­on facilities. The applicant will be given a “randomly generated, unique, and permanent” PhilSys Number (PSN).

The new national ID will contain the person’s PSN, full name, sex, date of birth, place of birth, blood type, address, marital status (optional), and a front-facing photograph of the individual.

Under the IRR, no person may disclose, collect, record, convey, disseminat­e, publish, or use any informatio­n of registered persons with the PhilSys, or give access to third parties or entities, including law enforcemen­t agencies.

But when the compelling interest of public health or safety so requires and provided that the risk of significan­t harm to the public is establishe­d, the relevant informatio­n may be disclosed upon order of a competent court.

The issuance of the new national ID will be free of charge. However, certain charges may be collected when the person wants to replace a lost card.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Philippines