Data Privacy Awareness and Compliance Workshop

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The three-day workshop is intended to give attendees introductory knowledge about the need to protect and secure personal and sensitive data or information gathered, processed, maintained, accessed and disposed of by an organization, may it be from the government or the private sector, as mandated by Republic Act 10173 otherwise known as the Data Privacy Act of 2012, which requires all to “protect the fundamental human right of privacy of communication while ensuring free flow of information to promote innovation and growth, and to ensure that personal information in information and communication systems in the government and in the private sector are secured and protected.”

“The head of each government agency, or instrumentality, is responsible for complying with the security requirements mentioned in the law, which includes all sensitive personal information maintained by his or her agency are secured, as far as practicable, with the use of the most appropriate standards recognized by the information and communication technology industry and as recommended by the National Privacy Commission.”

From the workshop, we have identified the preliminary tasks that we need to accomplish:

1. Appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO). Notarized and registered to the National Privacy Commission (NPC)

The DPO will oversee compliance of the organization to the Data Privacy Act (DPA). He or she must see to it that there is transparency, legitimate purpose, and proportionality in the acquisition, storing, safekeeping, sharing or destruction of data or information.

The head of an organization is by default the DPO, but he or she could also assign the responsibility to someone who must be among the decision makers since it involves the creation of policies designed to secure the Programs, Projects, Processes, Measures, Systems, Technologies (PPPMST) of the organization. The DPO could form a team of Compliance Officers for Privacy (COP) to help him with this endeavour.  They will supervise the Personal Information Controllers (PIC) and Personal information Processors (PIP) involved in the handling of data or information. The PIC must implement the organizational, technical and physical measures intended for the protection of personal information against any unlawful or accidental processing, destruction, alteration or disclosure.


2. Conduct a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)

Evaluate and manage the impact of our PPPMST on data privacy to identify and minimize the privacy risks. The PIA would ensure that potential problems could be identified at an early stage to make them simpler and less costly.


3. Register all the data processing programs, projects, processes, measures, systems, technologies (PPPMST) of the organization to NPC

The speaker advises that compliance to the DPA is not a one-shot initiative but a process so we could register our PPPMST gradually. It would also show to NTC that we are actively engaged in conceptualizing our DPA procedures.


4. Formulate and implement the organization’s Privacy Management Program (PMP)

Draft the organization’s data privacy rules, privacy manual and complaints mechanism. These include providing adequate and proper notifications on how data is acquired (like putting up visible signage of CCTV presence), practicing cyber hygiene (like creating strong passwords, locking devices, installing anti-virus, etc), securing physical locations of records (like keeping filing cabinets containing records locked and accessible only to the authorized persons), etc.,

A hard copy compliance manual and 1 year subscription to full DPMS which includes response management module is required.


5. Designate members of the Breach Response Team (BRT)

The BRT could draft the Breach Management Procedures to be followed when a data breach occurs.  They will take action and investigate if ever a possible breach is suspected or detected. A breach has occurred if the confidentiality, integrity or availability of data is compromised.  A corresponding incident or breach report should be submitted to the NPC within 72 hours.


DATES TO REMEMBER:

Deadline for Registration of DPO to NPC: March 8, 2018

Deadline for submission of Annual Incident Report to NPC: March 31, 2018

DOE Saves Billions for Consumers with Tighter Watch on TRAIN Oil Excise Taxes

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Department of Energy (DOE) saved consumers billions of pesos with its efforts to ensure that the imposition of the new excise tax rates on petroleum products under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law in the industry would be fairly and responsibly implemented by all the participants.

The DOE estimates that its actions saved consumers around P2.64 billion for liquid petroleum fuels, and P58.4 million from liquid petroleum gas (LPG).

Long before the onset of the TRAIN law's implementation, the DOE, through its Oil Industry Management Bureau, acted to safeguard consumers' welfare. These included meeting the industry stakeholders for guidelines, providing advisories to the public, conducting random inspections, data gathering and reviewing the inventory, examining the paper trail, as well as issuing show-cause orders to retail outlets that raised prices before January 15, the projected average period for exhaustion of old inventory.

“We implemented a lot of initiatives for the smooth implementation of TRAIN Law, because we did not want consumers to be compromised. The goal is to protect everyone, especially the consumers,” Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said.

The DOE directed oil companies to: 1) submit duly notarized inventory report as of 31 December 2017, on per depot and per product basis for effective monitoring; 2) impose the excise tax under TRAIN only after the 31 December 2017 stocks of finished products are fully exhausted; 3) submit the daily summary of withdrawal starting 1 January 2018 until the depletion of the declared inventory as of 31 December 2017, supported by the Official Registry Book (ORB); and 4) advise their retailers to post in a conspicuous area, for transparency, notice of new excise tax implementation under the TRAIN in a signage measuring 1 meter by 1 meter in size.

The DOE responded to initial reports of early implementation of the TRAIN Law by some liquid fuel retail outlets (gas stations). Thus, a number of outlets were issued show-cause orders directing them to explain in writing why they had already imposed the new excise tax rates.

To validate whether the implementation of the TRAIN Law was proper, the DOE closely examined the supply chain, starting with the scrutiny of the dates of the source depot run-out vis-à-vis the implementation dates of price increases due to TRAIN; the latter being validated from the delivery invoices submitted. The delivery dates of the excised products were then compared to the implementation dates of the price increase in the outlet or gas station involved.

Despite the big number of retail outlets nationwide for validation, the requirements of the DOE Secretary were complied with, along with the order of the Senate, through Committee on Energy Chair Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, to reconcile and validate all the submissions. Based on these actions, the DOE has taken all the necessary steps to ensure that the TRAIN Law was properly implemented by the industry.

To help mitigate the impact of the imposition of the new excise tax rates on the commuting public, the DOE also held talks with several oil companies to provide, renew, and/or to expand their discount mechanisms to public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers.

In the following weeks, the DOE will be executing Memorandums of Agreement with several oil companies to formalize such Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs to alleviate the plight of the PUV drivers.

Based on the three factors — (1) the mitigating mechanisms of the TRAIN Law; (2) the CSR programs to be extended by the oil companies; and (3) based on the correlation of historical data of petroleum prices and fare rates between 2014 and 2016 (where the increase in oil prices did not have a significant impact on the prices of rice and transport fares), the DOE believes that there would be a minimal impact on the public transportation sector.

Nevertheless, the DOE reiterated its commitment to ensure protection of the Filipino consumers against any disadvantageous trading of energy.

The Ultimate Guide to Taking Care of Your Mattress for Increasing Its Longevity

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Mattresses require a lot of care and maintenance to ensure their longevity. A good mattress will serve you longer and continue to give you health benefits if you look after it properly. However, if you fail to look after your bed then, you risk ruining your sleeping experience. In this article, you will learn about some of the basic but essential guidelines required to look after mattresses.

1. Get a mattress cover to help you protect your mattress from dust
Dust can ruin anything, much more a bed. No matter how expensive your mattress is, dust will still destroy it. Thus you need to protect your mattress from dust at all costs. You can choose to get either a mattress topper or a mattress cover, and it will protect your bed from dust and allergens, wear and tears. It will also give you more warmth. A good mattress cover must feel comfortable when you lay on it. It must be made with a material that is soft, durable and warm.

2. Do not jump on your mattress
Mattresses are not trampolines. No matter how soft or bouncy your mattress maybe, ensures that nobody jumps on them. Mattresses will start sagging after being used for some time, and it is only natural. Hover, the process is accentuated if you abuse it. Jumping on your mattress can not only make it sag but also break its frame.

3. Clean your mattress with upholstery cleaner
Keep a bottle of upholstery cleaner ready in your home.  It will help in removing stain marks and spots on your bed. You can also clean your other furniture with it like your couch or your chairs. Set aside a day for cleaning the mattress. Some stain marks might be difficult to remove but it is a rigorous process, and you must clean it patiently. Soon the marks will disappear.

4. Don’t have food on your mattress
Avoid having any food or drinks on your bed because this will increase your chances of soiling your mattress. Crumbs from your food that fall on your mattress are hidden inside the folds of your mattress' fabric. It can result in breeding ants or other insects like bed bugs. You can also accidentally spill liquids on your bedding which will make it damp. Damp mattresses produce musty odors which can again attract insects.
You can check out new mattresses if you like a soft bed, and if your old mattress is not giving you the necessary comfort.


Conclusion

Mattresses require proper maintenance to sustain their usability. You must look after it properly. You should clean it at least once every two months. Avoid bringing food or any liquid on your mattress. Do not abuse your bed, avoid jumping or bouncing on them. These little steps can increase the lifetime of your mattress easily. Also, it will prevent the mattress from sagging. Hopefully, this article will help you to clean and look after your mattress.


Author bio:

Mandy Bular is a freelance content writer. She has written many good and informative articles on different categories such as technology, health, fashion, education, career, travel etc. She is a featured author at various authoritative blogs in the health and fitness industry and currently associated as a blogger for https://sleepsherpa.com