Philippines Data Privacy Laws Gets Stretched

http://news.abs-cbn.com/business/05/08/18/jollibee-delivery-website-suspended-due-to-vulnerabilities

Just recently, there's news that the biggest local fastfood chain's delivery website has been told by the Philippine government's Data Privacy commission to stop operations until their vulnerabilities have been addressed.

The Data Privacy Law has been out for a while now and most companies have actually complied mostly with the guidelines and regulations put forth. This case with Jollibee is an interesting thing to follow and keep an eye on as it will show how far the government is really going to be pushing for the provisions of the law.

The comment by the data privacy officer that information security is not a top priority or not included as a large budget item is sadly a familiar reason within the Philippines. When money is an item for discussion, more budget tends to be allocated to flashier and revenue-generating expenses such as marketing and advertising rather than information security or risk mitigation.

Here's hoping the information security outlook for the country's companies improve with this move. And here's hoping it's not just regulation for regulation's sake.