For years now, the National Privacy Commission (NPC) have been receiving a lot of complaints from Online Lenders (mostly from lending apps from Google Play) regarding breaches in privacy particularly online shaming.
Even after it was featured in different news programs, online shaming became the norm from these online lenders. I’ve been closely following what the NPC will do in such cases of online shaming i.e. sending messages to a lender’s contacts’ list without permission.
If you follow the Facebook page of the National Privacy Commission, you will see a lot of Filipinos complaining about this practice by online lenders. Most of these online shaming resulted in a person’s anxiety and depression.
I also experience such online shaming. That’s why I am happy when the NPC released the following statement / resolution / Circular No. 20-01 regarding online lending. This will take effect 15 days from date of publication (October 19, 2020). Some of the key take away of this new regulation are:
- Lenders are prohibited from harvesting personal information such as phone and social media contact list
- Unnecessary permissions include accessing phone contact or e-mail list, harvesting social media contacts, copying or otherwise saving these these for use in debt collection, or to harass the borrower or his/her contacts.
- In no way shall the borrower’s photo be used, the circular said, to harass or embarrass him or her in order to collect a delinquent loan
- (Lenders) shall not use any personal data to engage in unfair collection practices as defined under SEC Memorandum Circular No. 18 series of 2019
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