Since the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (DPA) was passed into law in 2012, the firm has been addressing data privacy-related queries of its clients. Presently, the FMH Data Privacy Team has several ongoing consultancy engagements with companies in different industries. Hands-on experience in various settings complements the strong theoretical competence of the FMH Data Privacy Team.
To gain access to all available resources from international experts, FMH became the first Corporate (Silver) Member in the Philippines of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). Members of the FMH Data Privacy Team are also individual members of the IAPP.
Membership and attendance in trainings provided by the IAPP have supplied the FMH Data Privacy Team with the requisite competence to provide consultancy services. One of the members of the Team was one of the first, if not the first to become a Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM) in the Philippines. The rest of the members of the Team have undergone training for CIPM and Certified Information Privacy Professionals (EU) (CIPP/E). Several members of the Team have completed an intensive training in Singapore on the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which took effect on 25 May 2018. As of September 2023, five Team members are already CIPMs (one of whom is also a CIPP/E), and one of the Team members has become a Fellow in Information Privacy and, at the same time, a CIPP/E and a Certified Information Privacy Technologist, probably making the Team one of the legal and data privacy consulting service providers in the Philippines with the most number of privacy professionals.
The FMH Data Privacy Team is also collaborating with Straits Interactive Pte. Ltd., an internationally known data privacy systems provider and accredited trainer of the IAPP, to enable it to deliver automated, efficient, and comprehensive data privacy compliance service to its clients. In 2018, FMH became a member of the Data Protection Excellence Network (DPEX, https://www.dpexcentre.com/), which is the first of its kind facility in the region whose aim is to provide leadership, best practices, training, research and support for all things surrounding data privacy from an operational perspective. To keep abreast with the dynamic landscape of data privacy protection, since 2023, the members of the Data Privacy Team have been updating themselves by attending seminars and training on the impact of Artificial Intelligence on data privacy and protection.
The FMH Data Privacy Team distinguishes itself from other firms providing data privacy consulting services as it has taken the effort to build its competence far beyond the limits of the law by its conscious effort to pursue training that is not focused on achieving proficiency in Philippine personal data privacy law alone but also on gaining competence in operationalizing data protection from the strategic management level to the privacy operational life cycle level, or from the creation of a privacy mission/vision, establishment of a privacy program, to developing and implementing a privacy program framework. Knowledge of the operational aspect of data privacy affords the Team the ability to provide practical solutions rather than just prescribing rigid solutions solely geared at regulatory compliance. It is also clear to the Team that every data privacy engagement is a collaborative multi-disciplinary endeavor, and not simply a legal engagement.
Atty. Trina D. Singson heads this practice area, together with the firm’s special counsel for data privacy, Atty. Redentor Buban.
Services
Privacy compliance audit
Data inventory
Process mapping
Gap analysis
Privacy program management
Data privacy briefings and workshops
Privacy policy drafting, review, and revision
Review of contracts with clients, subcontractors, service providers, and vendors
Privacy impact assessment for new projects, systems, and procedures
Data privacy compliance audit of service providers/vendors
Generic and bespoke personnel training
Mock compliance audit
Outsourced Data Privacy Officer functions
Consulting on various