THE National Privacy Commission has issued an advisory banning the disclosure of complete names of subjects involved in privacy cases and ordering the use of initials or pseudonyms to replace the identities.
This was contained in the NPC’s Advisory 2020 – 01 or the “Protocols for the Publication of Decisions, Resolutions and Orders on the NPC Website.”
In cases where the mention of the subject’s address is needed, only the province or city shall be cited, the NPC said.
The Commission said this is to ensure the safety of subjects and prevent any possible safety risks posed by the disclosure of personal information.
In addition, the NPC will also limit the publication of cases, orders and resolutions that have not been disposed with finality.
These cases include those decided on the basis of compromise agreements, mediated settlement agreements, quitclaims and other modes of alternative dispute resolutions, as these are not decided on the basis of merit and therefore lack teaching value for the public; interlocutory decisions, orders and resolutions that do not dispose of the case or breach notification with finality and ; decisions, orders and resolutions that may be subject of a motion for reconsideration, unless the reglementary period to file such has lapsed.
“Publishing our cases to the public not only promotes transparency but also contributes in educating the public of data privacy. However, to better perform our mandate of protecting data subjects, we found the need to further sanitize published case decisions of personal information that distinctly identify a data subject,” said NPC Commissioner Raymund Liboro.
