By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz
MANILA – The National Privacy Commission (NPC) on Wednesday issued guidelines on the processing of personal data collected using body-worn cameras and similar devices for the protection of personal data and data privacy rights.
In a statement, NPC Commissioner John Henry Naga said the guidelines aim to ensure that technologies meant to enhance transparency and accountability do not come at the cost of unwarranted surveillance or intrusion of privacy.
“With the growing use of body-worn cameras across law enforcement, private security, and even digital content creation, we are entering a new era where the boundary between public safety, personal expression, and individual privacy is increasingly complex,” Naga said.
The guidelines are outlined in NPC Circular 2025-01, which seeks to protect a data subject’s personal data and emphasizes a lawful basis for the processing of personal data, security measures, the importance of secure storage, safekeeping, access control, and overall management of recordings and metadata.
The circular, which went into effect on Tuesday, sets out requirements for law enforcement, security personnel, as well as vloggers wearing body-worn cameras and other recording devices.
For law enforcement agencies, the circular reinforces the requirement to use body-worn cameras “transparently, fairly, and lawfully,” especially in sensitive operations, such as warrant executions.
“Agencies must ensure proper authorization, clear retention policies, and mechanisms for public access requests and complaints,” the circular read.
For vloggers and digital content creators, the circular clarifies that recording individuals in public or private settings, especially when these recordings are uploaded, streamed, or monetized, constitutes personal data processing.
“As such, content creators must uphold the Data Privacy Act of 2012, ensuring that personal data processing activities are done fairly and lawfully and affected data subjects are allowed to exercise their rights,” it said.
These data processing activities include providing adequate information to data subjects before any recording activity, having appropriate privacy notices on its platforms, masking images of data subjects as needed, and being responsive to takedown or privacy requests from featured individuals.
The circular can be found on the NPC’s website at https://privacy.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/SGD-NPC-Circular-No.-2025-01-Body-Worn-Cameras.pdf. (PNA)
