DATA PRIVACY POLICY

Version: 1.0
Date: Published:  04/28/2021 

Overview

This e-Presyo mobile application and Dashboard are developed by the University of the Philippines Public Administration Research and Extension Services Foundation, Inc. – Regulatory Reform Support Program for National Development (UPPAF-RESPOND) as technical assistance to the  Department of Trade Industry (DTI ). UPPAF-RESPOND is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This mobile application is part of the Online Price Monitoring solution of DTI, where consumers can check the prevailing prices of Basic Necessities and Prime Commodities that are being monitored by the Agency. This can serve as a price guide for consumers, providing options to increase the value of their money. Equally, this mobile application provides an avenue for consumers to report price discrepancies of Basic Necessity and Prime Commodity products monitored by DTI.


This Data Privacy Policy will be revised accordingly once the e-Presyo mobile application and the web application Dashboard has been properly turned over to DTI. Users of the mobile application may choose to remove their accounts and have their personal data deleted from the system once the turnover is completed.


Collection

This e-Presyo mobile application collects personal data of consumers that want to use the application and check the prevailing prices of Basic Necessities and Prime Commodities monitored by DTI, and report price discrepancies to the Agency.


The following are the personal information collected from the users and mobile device resources accessed by the e-Presyo mobile application

      1. Nickname entered by Consumers upon registration and used by DTI Representatives to address the user when answering or validating their reported incidents and inquiries.

      2. Mobile Number of Citizens is also collected during the registration process to verify the authenticity of the user through OTP.

      3. An optional read-only access to Photos, Videos, and Camera of the mobile device is requested when attaching supporting documents and evidence to reported price discrepancy incidents. Furthermore, the attached evidence in the reports does not require any facial or personally identifiable data and should only focus on the product or goods being reported to DTI.

      4. An optional Location Data is submitted only during reporting of price discrepancy incidents, and the location refers to the store where the user encountered the incident.



Use

The reports on price discrepancy incidents submitted through this e-Presyo mobile application are reviewed, analyzed, and acted upon by the representatives of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).


UPPAF-RESPOND only acts as an interim controller of the database where all submitted personal information and reported price discrepancies are stored and does not use this information beyond this purpose.


Disclose and Share

As mentioned in the Overview, the e-Presyo mobile application and its web application Dashboard are developed by the UPPAF-RESPOND as technical assistance to DTI regarding its E-PRESYO initiative. Personal Information and Reported Incidents collected through this mobile application are controlled by the UPPAF-RESPOND and DTI, until the mobile and web applications are properly turned over to the sole ownership of the Government Agency. As the temporary controller of the database where all submitted data is stored, UPPAF-RESPOND provides DTI access to this information, as the Agency is the primary user of this data.



Storage, Retention, and Destruction or Disposal

Personal information collected is stored in Microsoft Azure and Digital Ocean cloud platforms with data centers located in Singapore.


Personal information will be retained for as long as it is necessary for DTI to provide its services related to Price Monitoring, Addressing reported price discrepancies, and upholding the rights of Consumers.


Policies on Data Retention, Archiving, and Data Anonymization are determined by DTI as the primary user of the system. Policies on Data Destruction and Disposal are also identified by the government agency.



Security

We have taken steps to minimize or prevent unauthorized processing / access / disclosure, malicious intent, improper disposal of personal information, and access due to negligence.


Registered mobile number of users for this application is not displayed in the web application dashboard, and DTI Representatives that address reported price discrepancies can only see the Nickname who reported the incident, as well as any attached supporting documents and location where the price discrepancy was encountered.


Personal information stored in the database, though not anonymized, is only accessible to the Database Administrator. Reports that contain the Mobile Numbers and Nicknames of the e-Presyo mobile application can only be generated by DTI identified authorized user.


The system implements access restrictions, as well as an Access Control Policies to restrict or grant the use of all system data, including reported incidents as well as user personal information.


The e-Presyo mobile application transmits data using SSL.


The UPPAF-RESPOND has implemented other reasonable physical, technical, and organizational security measures such as encryption, vulnerability assessments, etc. to protect and maintain confidentiality, integrity, and availability of all collected personal data.


Furthermore, once ownership of the e-Presyo mobile application and web application dashboard has been transferred to DTI, the agency’s existing physical, technical, and organizational security measures and controls will take over in protecting the personal data processed by the applications.



Rights of the Data Subject

Users of this mobile application have the right to request access to their personal information that the platform stores. If personal information is found incorrect, incomplete, or irrelevant, users have the right to request for correction and/or destruction of their personal information.


When users withdraw their previously given consent , or request for their data to be deleted from the system, all user data along with supporting evidence and location data attached to reported price discrepancy incidents are deleted from the database.


A detailed description of users’ rights as Data Subjects of the e-Presyo mobile application under Republic Act No. 10173 (or the Data Privacy Act of 2012) can be found in:

URL  https://privacy.gov.ph/know-your-rights/


Data Privacy requests, concerns, or inquiries may be sent to  [email protected]