Law note · Philippines
Data Privacy Act of 2012, data subject rights
cite Republic Act No. 10173 (2012), Sections 16-18
stage IN FORCE in force since 2012-08-15
kind Data subject rights
binds public and private bodies
reviewed 2026-08-29
What it requires
- An app holding the personal information of an individual in the Philippines must give that individual a way to be informed, object, access, correct, and erase their data, and must provide a copy of their data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format on request.
When LexLint raises it
processes_biometricsprocesses_voicecrawls_web
What we found
Section 16 grants a data subject rights including to be informed, to object, to access, to rectification or correction, to erasure or blocking, and to damages for inaccurate, unlawfully obtained, or unauthorized use of personal information, alongside the right to file a complaint before the Commission. Section 17 makes these rights transmissible to lawful heirs after the data subject's death or incapacity.
Section 18 grants a right to data portability, obtaining personal data in an electronic or structured, commonly used format that allows further use by the data subject; this right was already present in the original 2012 Act, unlike some regimes that added it only by later amendment.