The National Privacy Commission (NPC) urged the public to be careful when applying for loans through online lending apps, particularly those that ask for access to personal information such as a phone’s contact list.
The commission said illegal online lending apps typically ask for broad permissions to a user’s mobile phone. NPC Deputy Commissioner Jose Amelito Belarmino II said in an interview on Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon that a request for access to the phonebook and photo gallery, along with consent for everything, is a sign that applicants should not proceed.
Belarmino said granting these permissions gives the lenders access to the borrower’s phone, which some use to carry out debt shaming.
The NPC said it has received numerous reports of harassment after lending apps gained access to borrowers’ contact lists. According to Belarmino, most complaints involve companies accessing borrowers’ phonebooks, photo galleries and social media accounts.
He described how the practice works. When a borrower fails to pay, the company opens the contact list and sends messages to the people on it, mainly co-workers, office mates and family members. Some lending apps also post debt-related content on borrowers’ social media accounts. Others make repeated calls or send repeated messages to contacts who are not guarantors of the loan, Belarmino said.
The commission said it is coordinating with the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the Philippine National Police to combat illegal online lending operations.
The NPC also monitors online activity around the clock for data breaches and improper disclosures by lending apps, Belarmino said. He added that the commission repeatedly reminds data controllers to apply adequate security measures to the data they collect and to use it only for legitimate processing.
The NPC said illegal online lenders may face administrative fines and criminal prosecution.
