Data of 28 million passport holders may have been compromised: DFA
An official from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said they're "really concerned" over the data of 28 million passport holders being compromised—and wants to have a cybersecurity system for all passport data.
"We are really concerned with the security of our more than 28 million passport holders' data," DFA Office of Consular Affairs
Asst. Sec. Adelio Cruz said during a Senate finance subcommittee hearing on the agency's proposed budget of P27.4 billion for 2025. He added that they are "seriously looking into the possibility of employing a cybersecurity system for all our passport data."
The assistant secretary said they're "not happy" with one government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) in charge of printing passports, the APO Production Unit.
He cited "several incidents" in which APO's data and system were allegedly breached.
"Unfortunately, they would not admit to the gravity or to the degree of the breach," Cruz said, adding that APO should explain.
APO, a GOCC under the Presidential Communications Office, signed a deal with the DFA in 2015 to take care of passport printing. On its website, it said it's "responsible for securing the applicant’s online appointment, printing, personalization, and delivery of the ePassport.”
Cruz also took note of the data from different government agencies being hacked, even as "some were sold on the deep web."
The official said they'd send the Senate committee a report "sometime next week," to ensure that Filipinos "can sleep soundly at night and ensure that not a single passport data is sold in the dark web."
Sen. Loren Legarda, chairperson of the finance subcommittee, asked the DFA to give the Senate all information, as she's looking into filing a resolution seeking to address the issue.
Legarda asked Cruz to attend the subcommittee's budget hearing on the PCO next week. She added that there will also be a meeting with APO and the consular affairs office.
Agreeing to Legarda, Cruz replied, "We have our litany of concerns, madame chair."