BAGUIO CITY – Concerned residents are alarmed on the numerous text messages that they had been receiving over the past several weeks in relation to offers for low interest loans, sale of products and even campaigning by some aspirants for the various elected positions in the local level.
Sources, who requested anonymity for personal reasons and for fear of reprisal, questioned on who made public their numbers and email addresses that paved the way for companies offering low interest loans, products among others to access the same so that they will be able to gain greater market from the people.
The various sources believe that there seems to be a breach in the handling of data by concerned government agencies and local governments who took the personal information of many residents and visitors that makes the responsible officers liable for violation of the pertinent provisions of the Data Privacy Act.
Further, the sources also lamented the alleged lack of data security officers in some government agencies and local governments that could have caused the aforesaid breach that paved the way for certain technical experts to have access to the data of the people of the city thereby casting doubts on the safety of the data that had been collected and supposedly stored in the proper way.
The sources alleged that in a certain application of a local government, information technology experts could easily change the information of certain individuals in the same which is now a cause of concern among many residents that their supposed private information can easily be accessed by anyone who know the techniques in doing so.
According to some experts in the information technology industry, it might be possible that the data of the city residents might have been allegedly sold to various individuals and companies that are in need of the same for them to be able to market their goods and services by simply having access to the contact numbers of people where they could send text blasts thereby making them reach a greater market without spending on marketing people to do the said job.
Moreover, the sources claimed that it seems that the gathered data was also given to the candidates who are allies of some influential politicians because many people have been receiving text messages reminding them to vote for certain candidates during the May 9, 2022 synchronized national and local elections.
The sources rallied the people who had been receiving such text messages to come out in the open and expose the same so that concerned government agencies and local governments who are trying hard to embrace digital transformation can see for themselves the degree of breach that was committed on the data they had been collecting from the people throughout the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
The challenge remains on how the concerned government agencies and local governments can ensure the security of the data that they had been collecting from people to avoid the repeat of the aforesaid breach which is dangerous to the privacy of the people who had been protecting the said private information decades only to be sold to individuals and companies wanting to save on marketing cost.
