Philippines privacy body opens probe into Facebook data breach

MANILA, Philippines — The National Privacy Commission has asked social media giant Facebook to relay information regarding the 1.18 million Filipinos who may have been affected by the data breach involving British firm Cambridge Analytica.

In a letter dated April 11, the NPC told Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg that the Philippine privacy body has launched an investigation into Facebook whether there is unauthorized processing of personal data of Filipinos.

The probe would also look into possible violations of the Data Privacy Act of 2012.

"We will look into Facebook's adherence to the data processing principles of transparency, legitimate purpose, and proportionality required of every personal information controller processing the personal data of Filipinos," the NPC said.

The NPC asked Facebook to provide them with documentation of tools employed, including the use of artificial intelligence in processing data, on Filipino users.

The social media giant uses such tools to deliver content to certain users.

"Data subjects have the right to know exactly how their data is being processed," NPC told Zuckerberg.

The privacy commission also requested for more information on Facebook's data sharing with third parties, as well as contracts entered into with these entities.

Facebook was also asked to provide a detailed timeline of the incidents relating to the Cambridge Analytica data breach, as well as the abuse on the part of Cambridge University researcher Aleksandr Kogan.

According to a report from The Guardian, Kogan collected direct messages sent to and from Facebook users who installed his personality quiz app. These data may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica.

Facebook, however, announced that they had required Kogan and Cambridge Analytica to destroy the acquired data.

"Kindly submit documentation between Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, and any evidence which led Facebook to believe that the data had indeed been destroyed, as well as any documentation of the extent of information shared between Facebook and Dr. Kogan, and from Dr. Kogan to Cambridge Analytica," the NPC said.

More than 67 million Filipinos are active Facebook users and 1.18 million of them may have been affected by the Cambridge Analytica incident, which the NPC deemed alarming and could pose risks to Filipino Facebook users.

"With these recent developments, it is important to examine the accuracy, fairness, and transparency of your current declarations on how personal data is being handled at Facebook," the letter read.

Earlier this week, NPC officials met with Facebook representatives to discuss the data breach involving 87 million users around the globe.

NPC commissioner Raymund Liboro warned that with the affected number of Filipino users, the Philippines may be the second most affected country of the data breach in terms of data subjects.