Privacy commission summons Pines City Colleges exec over mandatory pregnancy test

The National Privacy Commission (NPC) has summoned a high-ranking official of the Pines City Colleges in Baguio City over the school’s policy of conducting mandatory pregnancy test on its students.

The commission warned that such policy could be a violation of the Data Privacy Law.

In a letter addressed to Rocio Prats-Baltao, Pines City Colleges vice president for administration, the NPC said the school official should appear before the Department of Information and Communications Technology field office to explain the legality and propriety of the new policy that will involve collection of sensitive personal information.

The letter was signed by Francis Acero, division chief of NPC's complaints and investigation division.

“I write to inform you that on November 8, this Commission, and of its own accord, initiated an investigation on the data privacy implications of a Memorandum dated October 25 from the Pines City Colleges Medical Clinic, addressed to all the deans and department heads of the colleges of dentistry, nursing and pharmacy. This Commission requires clarification or confirmation on your compliance with the fundamental data privacy principles of transparency, legitimate purpose, and proportionality in accordance with law,” Acero said in the letter.

Acero said that under Data Privacy Act , all personal information controllers such as Pines City Colleges, must abide by the principles of transparency, legitimate purpose, and proportionality.

“This means that any data collection must be for specified and legitimate purposes;  adequate and not excessive in relation to the purposes for which they are collected and processed;  and only for the specific purpose, for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims, or for a legitimate business purpose," the letter said.

It added that "the processing of personal information about an individual’s health and sexual history, as sensitive personal information,  is prohibited unless specific conditions are met."

Acero said the Pines City Colleges’ October 25 memo constituted processing of sensitive personal information of the students, and as such, the commission has a legal mandate to ensure that the data privacy rights of the students are protected.

At this point, Acero said the school's authority to collect such sensitive information was questionable.

“At the outset, it appears that the records of Pines City Colleges do not appear in our database of registered personal information controllers, which indicates that you do not have a data protection officer registered with the Commission,” Acero added. — LDF, GMA News