Senate urged to approve bill vs computer data theft

MANILA, Philippines - Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo urged the Senate yesterday to act on his bill seeking to protect the personal data of private citizens stored in government and corporate computers.

He made the appeal after Transportation and Communications Secretary Mar Roxas announced that his agency would file a case against Stradcom Corp., the information technology provider of the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

Stradcom supposedly allowed other entities to access the LTO database without the consent of the government and the individuals whose personal data may have been compromised.

“The LTO database contains highly sensitive personal facts of millions of Filipinos, to include all the information in every driver’s license and every certificate of (motor vehicle) registration,” Romulo said.

“This incident involving Stradcom is precisely what our bill seeks to prevent. This case has underscored the need for a special law securing the privacy of personal data in our information systems,” he added.

Senate Bill 4115, or the Act Protecting the Privacy of Personal Data in Information Systems, has been pending in the Senate since the House passed it on third and final reading last May.

Romulo said his bill sets definite, predictable and enforceable privacy protection rules with respect to personal facts in information systems, and provides adequate safeguards against, and penalties for the misappropriation or mishandling of such records.

“An information system refers to an integrated set of components for collecting, storing, processing, and communicating information. Business firms, other entities, and individuals rely on information systems to manage their operations, compete in the marketplace, supply services, and enhance personal lives,” he said.

“For instance, firms rely on computerized information systems to process financial accounts and manage human resources, government agencies rely on similar systems to provide basic services to citizens, and individuals use the same systems to study, shop, bank, and invest,” he added.             

In announcing at a Senate budget hearing that his department would sue Stradcom, Roxas said: “We will recoup the losses from the unauthorized exploitation of the (LTO) database, which is owned by the government. We will file the appropriate cases for restitution.”

He said he has already directed DOTC lawyers to go over the Stradcom contract to find out exactly what the firm was authorized and not authorized to do, and whether any government concurrences were previously issued.

“The database is owned by the government. There ought not to be any unauthorized use or profit-making activity arising from the data without the approval of the government,” he said.