MANILA – The National Privacy Commission (NPC) has cautioned the Department of Health (DOH) about sharing the Dengvaxia master list, noting that the disclosure of such information should have consent from persons owning the information.
Privacy Commissioner Raymund Liboro reminded the agency that under the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (DPA), a public office should not disclose any information to another government agency or a private entity without the consent of the subject of the information.
In an advisory opinion in response to the formal request of DOH about sharing the Dengvaxia master list – as requested by the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) – Liboro said it should be “provided for by existing laws and regulations or a data subject has given his or her consent”.
The NPC noted that the master list contains sensitive personal information, mostly related to the minors — identified by the Commission as a vulnerable group of data subjects.
“Should the PAO be authorized as the legal representative of the minor data subjects, they may then be provided information on the particular data subject they are representing, subject to the presentation of proof of such authorization,” Liboro said.
“We emphasize that the government is one of the biggest repositories of the personal data of citizens. The government or its agencies, however, do not have the blanket authority to access or use the information about private individuals under the custody of another agency,” he added.
