National Privacy Commission Summons Grab Over Uber Acquisition

The National Privacy Commission (NPC) will summon officials of ridesharing company Grab Philippines next week to explain the impact of its recent acquisition of the Southeast Asian operations of its corporate rival Uber on the personal data of drivers and riders in the country.

The NPC wants to ensure that Grab will uphold the data privacy rights of its drivers and riders as it emerges as the leading transportation network company (TNC) in the Philippines.

“We have called on Grab to a meeting next week to enlighten the Commission on this ‘sale’ particularly its provision on the processing of Filipino drivers’ and users’ data and the measures they take in protecting these data,” NPC Commissioner Raymund Liboro said in a statement late Tuesday.

“As the biggest TNV (transport network vehicle) provider in the Philippines after the exit of Uber, we want Grab to demonstrate that they could ‘walk the talk’ when it comes to protecting personal data and upholding the data privacy rights of its drivers and users,” he added.

Grab, through its legal counsel, lawyer John Paul Nabua, assured the NPC that it will cooperate and comply with the data privacy and protection laws in the country.

“Grab also declared to the Commission that there will be no sharing of any user data between Uber and Grab. Uber users and drivers will be required to register anew with Grab to allow them to use the Grab TNV platform,” Liboro said.

Grab announced Monday that it has taken over Uber’s ride-sharing and food delivery businesses in Southeast Asia integrating them into its transportation and financial technology platform. Uber will take 27.5 percent stake in Grab as part of the acquisition.

Meanwhile, the NPC assured that the merger with Grab will not affect its investigation of the past data breaches of Uber involving Filipino users.

“This investigation is continuing and a report would be out soon,” Liboro said.

Uber has confirmed last November that the personal information of Filipinos had been exposed in a massive data breach involving 57 million users worldwide dating back to October 2016.

The NPC warned Uber that it may face serious criminal and civil liabilities under the Data Privacy Act of 2012. (PNA)