The Data Privacy Act, also called Republic Act No. 10173, has been signed into law by President Benigno Aquino III recently. 

The law is seen as a boost to the country’s rapidly expanding information technology and business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) sector. 

Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) president Benedict Hernandez said in an interview quoted on www.interaksyon.com, “Much of our work involves confidential personal and company information, and client firms of our IT-BPOs want to know that the Philippines provides international standards of protection to safeguard their information.”

The Data Privacy Act, which was aligned with the Information Privacy Framework of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation and based on European Parliament standards, was created to protect the confidentiality and integrity of personal data. The law will also pave the way for the creation of the National Privacy Commission which will be under the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

One of the priority measures of the Aquino administration through the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council, Republic Act No. 10173 is expected to boost investor confidence in the IT-BPO industry which is currently on target for a projected $20 billion in revenues and 1.2 million job opportunities through the next four years.