MMDA: Publishing names of traffic violators not allowed under privacy law

Disclosure of traffic violators’ names is not allowed under the Data Privacy Act, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Romando Artes said Thursday.

“Hindi po dapat binabanggit ‘yung mga pangalan ng mga nahuhuli. Sufficient na po ‘yung ma-isyuhan ng ticket na penalty…May Data Privacy Law po tayo na nagpo-protect ng information na ‘to...Kaya itong pagsasabi ng mga pangalan na ito ay clearly a violation po nitong Data Privacy [Act],” Artes said in a press conference.

(MMDA should not mention the names of the traffic violators. Issuance of traffic violation tickers is already enough. We also have a Data Privacy Law that protects that kind of information. That’s why the disclosure of the names is clearly a violation of the Data Privacy Act.)

The MMDA chief made the remark amid the suspension of Task Force Special Operations chief Bong Nebrija.

Artes said one of the reasons for Nebrija’s suspension was disclosing that former Ako-Bicol party-list Representative Christopher Co and Senator Ramon Revilla were apprehended for using the EDSA bus lane. It turned out that the information he shared was false.

Revilla and Co both denied the allegation.The MMDA later apologized to both Revilla and Co —AOL, GMA Integrated News