(April 22, 2021) – Think before you click.
The National Privacy Commission (NPC) on Thursday said it has begun an investigation on the malicious tags recently circulating on Facebook.
Many Filipino netizens have complained about getting repeatedly tagged on what seem to be pornographic videos despite attempts to block or report them.
“Kailangan pa namin ma-verify kung ‘yung pagta-tag at pag-click mo sa notification ay nagha-harvest din ng personal na information,” said Roren Marie Chin, chief of the NPC’s public information and assistance division, in an interview with One News’ Agenda.
Victimized users reported that they were asked to download a Flash player update to play the obscene video, but they later found out that it was a malware infection, placing one’s Facebook account in danger, and could lead to the further spread of the malware.
Chin said they have yet to determine whether the malicious tags are only happening in the Philippines or other countries as well.
“Pinagdidiskusyonan talaga kung saan ito nanggaling at kung ano ‘yung goal at objective nitong malware or virus. So kailangan pa namin ng further confirmation and verification katulad ng ginawa ng DOJ (Department of Justice). We are still coordinating with the data protection officer of Facebook kasi ang nakakatakot dito baka hina-harvest ‘yung ating personal data doon sa social media,” said Chin.
Chin, however, assured that the NPC will take more serious actions once proven that the malicious tags lead to data privacy breaches.
“Kapag nag-harvest ito ng personal information, personal data ng mga nag-click sa notification ay mahuhulog ito sa National Privacy Commission at Data Privacy Act,” said Chin.
The DOJ’s Office of Cybercrime (DOJ-OOC) has also brought up the matter to Facebook’s Asia Pacific Legal Law Enforcement Outreach where it has since taken down the page doing the malicious tags and sanctioned its administrators. It remains unclear, however, if more pages are involved.
“If you happen to get a notification tagging you in a post that contains a link to an apparent adult content, do not click any further and report the post. We encourage everyone to report similar incidents in the future to for immediate and appropriate action,” said the DOJ-OOC in a statement.
Chin, meanwhile, reminded Filipinos not to click suspicious links and encouraging regular changing of passwords.
“Tayo ay mag-revisit o mag-review ng privacy settings ng ating social media accounts,” said Chin. “Siguro naman lahat lalo na sa nangyari sa nakaraan, it’s best to regularly change our password at kailangan strong ang ating password na gamit.”
(Kiko Demigillo/PM)
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TV5 Network Inc. values and respects your privacy. We are committed to safeguarding your personal data in compliance with Republic Act No. 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012 and its implementing rules and regulations.
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Data Protection Officer
TV5 Network Inc.
Reliance corner Sheridan Streets
Mandaluyong City
tv5dataprivacy@tv5.com.ph
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