The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) reminded the public to be careful with how they handle their private data online as the country observes the annual “Data Privacy Day” today, Jan. 28.
In its social media post, the CHR said: “Today’s observance of Data Privacy Day is a reminder for us to start the year right by rethinking how we protect our private data. It is a global observance to raise awareness on accounts protection and online safety."
It then shared three simple tips to protect private data online. These are:
“The first tip is not to use a singular password for all accounts. Sa ganitong paraan, mas hindi madali ang ma-hack (In this way, it would not be so easy to be hacked).
“Second is to always sign out on all devices -- especially those that do not belong to the user.
“Lastly, use ad blockers so as to avoid pop-up ads that might contain viruses.”
The CHR said the reminder is timely since the Data Protection Excellence Centre (DPEX), a community initiative of Straits Interactive that tackles all things related to data privacy in the ASEAN region, has said in a media release last Jan. 6 that there would be more COVID-19 related privacy breaches in 2022 because of digitalization, emerging technologies, and work-from-home surveillance.
“Expect to see more sophisticated breaches created by the pandemic situation in 2022 -- whether it involves a data breach in a contact tracing app, unauthorized use of COVID-19-related personal data, or via the use of new privacy-intrusive technologies to profile or perform surveillance of individuals," Kevin Shepherdson, chief executive officer of Straits Interactive, said in a statement.