Two months after the House of Representatives passed HB 4115 or the Data Privacy Act of 2011, the Senate is finally getting its own version of the proposed law with Sen. Edgardo Angara scheduled to sponsor the bill this coming week.
Under the Constitution, both chambers of Congress must pass their respective versions of a bill in order for it to become a law, after being signed by the president.
The approved edition of the Lower House provides for broad privacy guidelines governing how electronic data should be used, shared, and stored, incorporating key principles laid out in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Privacy Framework.
The Senate version of the measure provides for the creation of a National Privacy Commission that will make sure ICT systems in the country comply with international standards set for data protection.
Angara recently underscored the importance of safeguarding personal data used and stored in ICT systems for the Philippines to become a stronger player in the global IT-BPO industry.
Angara, chair of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology, made the statement as the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) called for the immediate passage of the Data Privacy Act.
“ICT has empowered us to utilize, process, and analyze large amounts of data for various purposes. In that respect, ICT has liberated our businesses and our government agencies. But rolling out these systems comes with serious privacy implications. A policy framework needs to be in place to define the limits of these new found freedoms,” said Angara.
The IT-BPO industry has been a staunch supporter of the bill, claiming that its passage will cultivate investor trust and confidence.
Last year, the IT-BPO industry made record revenues of $9 billion — or 4.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) — and created 525,000 direct jobs, as well as 1.312 million more jobs in ancillary industries.
Estimates for 2011 show that the IT-BPO industry will produce 640,000 direct jobs by year-end, as well as 1.6 million indirect jobs.
“Once the bill is passed, it will not only complement the gains made by the IT-BPO industry but also become the enabling environment for our e-governance initiatives to truly take flight,” said Angara, who also chairs the Congressional Commission on Science, Technology and Engineering (Comste).
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