Jollibee says addressing delivery website's data privacy issues

MANILA, Philippines — Homegrown fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. ($JFC) on Wednesday said it is now taking steps to resolve the potential security risks in its online delivery service.

“We are currently addressing the issues the National Privacy Commission has outlined, and we are closely coordinating with them on this,” JFC said in a statement.

“Beyond what the NPC shared, we have been conducting our own investigation and performing security checks on our system,” it added.

In a three-page order, the NPC directed JFC to suspend the operations of jollibeedelivery.com after the commission found that the website remains vulnerable to unauthorized access.

The NPC’s Commission’s Complaints and Investigation Division identified the breach to be “a result of a proof-of-concept initiated by a marketing PR team representative of Jollibee, who made representations to a domestic cybersecurity firm.”

“Such vulnerabilities may allow malefactors with little to moderate technical knowledge and skill to access personal information of Jollibee patrons through its website,” the privacy commission said.

In compliance with the NPC’s order, JFC has temporarily taken its website offline. The fast-food company also voluntarily suspended the online food delivery operations of its other brands “as an additional precaution.”

LOOK: Online delivery service of Jollibee brands (Jollibee, Greenwich, Red Ribbon and Chowking) taken down while the company is updating security to ensure protection of users’ data. @PhilippineStar pic.twitter.com/yDN8aXRM12

— Janvic Mateo (@jvrmateoSTAR) May 9, 2018

“With this, we will be able to facilitate faster online delivery system improvements and update security measures that will further strengthen data protection,” JFC said in the same press statement.

“We assure the public that safeguarding the confidentiality of our customers’ personal data remains JFC’s priority,” it added.

JFC, which has a market capitalization of more than P300 billion, operates the largest food service network in the Philippines. As of end-March, the company was operating 2,895 restaurant outlets in the country.