Cebu City to NPC: Go after ‘bogus’ online sellers

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Have you tried receiving items that you did not order online?

Cebu City Councilor Raul Alcoseba said this practice by some bogus online sellers has already victimized a lot of city residents.

Alcoseba is asking the National Privacy Commission (NPC) to investigate the practice of sending items to individuals who did not make any online purchase.

He suspects that some online sellers leak their clients’ personal information to bogus online sellers who in turn send items that were never ordered in the first place.

And a lot of these items were already sent to confused buyers, some of whom ended up paying for the purchase that they did not make.

“Not knowing the reasons or intent of merchants or sellers is a cause for concern considering that some of these online merchants or sellers may have misused, maliciously disclosed, or improperly disposed personal data of previous costumers who transacted with them,” Alcoseba said.

This practice is a violation of  Republic Act No. 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012.

The law states that “people whose personal information is collected, stored, and processed are called data subjects, and organizations or institutions who deal with your personal details, whereabouts, and preferences are duty-bound to observe and respect data privacy rights.”

Alcoseba is now asking NPC to look into these incidents and to investigate a possible breach of data privacy by these online shopping websites or social media sites.

“We request the National Privacy Commission to look into the reports of Cebu City residents who were attempted to be delivered by merchants or sellers of products or goods which they did not order, online or otherwise, possibly personal data were misused, maliciously disclosed, or improperly disposed by merchants or seller,” he said.  / dcb