Statement of Privacy Commissioner John Henry Naga on unsolicited text messages containing users’ names

The National Privacy Commission (NPC) is monitoring and investigating the proliferation of unsolicited text messages (texts) from anonymous numbers, with some containing the receiver’s names.

The NPC held a meeting with telecommunications providers today, 01 September 2022, where the participants committed to intensify their technological and security safeguards, including the blocking of numbers to curb the surge immediately, among others.

We are also in coordination with the National Telecommunications Commission to share information and conduct concerted actions to the full extent of our respective mandates.

Finally, the NPC shall hold an open, public webinar on 07 September 2022, at 1:00 pm, where we shall discuss the risks and harms of receiving these text messages, the best practices to protect ourselves from being scammed, and other useful information that we can apply to our daily lives. We invite everyone to join this event, and we hope for your active participation in this initiative.

Consistent with our thrust to empower our citizens, we urge vigilance in protecting personal data, whether online or offline, especially in activities that require the disclosure of names, numbers, and other information that could divulge our identities.

The NPC shall apprise its stakeholders of further developments related to this issue.

ATTY. JOHN HENRY D. NAGA
Privacy Commissioner
01 September 2022