NPC to lead int’l working group on Covid-19 data privacy

“We are continuing this engagement and collaboration to provide the community and our stakeholders with a direction in developing pandemic-responsive policies that uphold privacy standards,” Liboro said. (File Photo: National Privacy Commissions/Facebook)

MANILA – The Philippines, represented by the National Privacy Commission (NPC), has been chosen again by the Global Privacy Assembly (GPA) to lead an international working group on global policy discussions on data privacy during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

In a statement Tuesday, NPC Commissioner Raymund Liboro said the GPA, a forum of around 110 privacy and data protection authorities around the globe, voted to create the working group to build on “the successes” of the GPA’s previous Covid-19 Task Force—also chaired by Liboro— “in influencing global policy discussions on data privacy during the pandemic.”

“We are continuing this engagement and collaboration to provide the community and our stakeholders with a direction in developing pandemic-responsive policies that uphold privacy standards,” Liboro said.

The selection of the NPC, he said, was a “testament to the confidence” that the international community has in the NPC after its previous chairmanship.

The development came after Liboro reported the “deliverables” of the NPC on its data privacy campaign, notably a compendium of best practices, during a closed session of the GPA on October 15.

The compendium, he said, was developed through a series of capacity-building webinars on pressing issues such as contact-tracing and location tracking, handling of employee data from home/return-to-work situations, and handling of students’ data on e-learning and online education platforms.

“These webinars highlighted recovery mechanisms that helped members deal and cope with the new normal. These also noted some business continuity strategies for data protection officers and gave emphasis on their role in championing privacy and data protection amid the pandemic,” Liboro said.

He noted that the previous Covid-19 Task Force organized five webinars, three of which were in separate collaborations with the Centre for Information Policy Leadership, International Association of Privacy Professionals, and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

“In planning and organizing these capacity-building activities, we made sure there is regional diversity in the selection of speakers, so as to give a holistic perspective and to be able to hear as much as possible, all voices and experiences from around the globe,” Liboro said.

GPA Chair and United Kingdom Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said the GPA and its members “greatly benefited” from the Covid-19 Task Force.

“The work of the Covid-19 Task Force has shown that the modernized GPA can be agile and proactive in responding to the needs of our community. The breadth of the Task Force’s achievements from capacity building and outreach events to the Compendium of Best Practices [has] provided real practical benefits,” Denham said.

Angelene Falk, GPA executive member and Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner, said Liboro’s leadership of the Covid-19 Task Force “delivered pragmatic initiatives and global cooperation,” noting that the new group once again led by Liboro “can advance goals further.”

“I express my full support to the work of the GPA Covid-19 Task Force, and welcome the establishment of a GPA Working Group dedicated to the privacy issues being raised by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Falk said.

The GPA Covid-19 Task Force includes representatives from both GPA members and observers from Australia, Burkina Faso, Canada, Council of Europe, Dubai International Financial Centre Authority, EU Fundamental Rights Agency, European Data Protection Supervisor, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Hong Kong, International Committee of the Red Cross, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Jersey, Korea, Macao, Mauritius, Mexico, New Zealand, OECD Data Governance and Privacy Unit, Peru, the Philippines, San Marino, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, UN Global Pulse, Uruguay and the US Federal Trade Commission.