Data privacy and transparency for barangays

The Data Privacy Act (RA 10173)

The Data Privacy Act gives residents rights over their personal data and requires organisations that handle it, including local government units, to protect it, appoint a data protection officer, and report breaches. BOS helps a barangay meet those duties:

• A Data Privacy Act consent notice appears before any public form collects information.
• Resident submissions sit in a staff-review queue and never change the official record on their own.
• Every change is logged with who made it and the before-and-after values.
• Only the data a service needs is collected, and each barangay's data is isolated from the others'.

The barangay remains the Personal Information Controller of its residents' data. Barangays don't appoint their own Data Protection Officer: under DILG MC 2024-135, the city or municipality may designate a Compliance Officer for Privacy for each barangay. Where required, the data processing system is registered with the National Privacy Commission. BOS provides the tooling; we point you to what your barangay still needs to do.

Your barangay's checklist

• Know that the barangay is the Personal Information Controller of residents' data, even when a vendor hosts the system.
• Ask your city or municipality to designate your Compliance Officer for Privacy (DILG MC 2024-135).
• Show a privacy notice and get consent before any online form collects personal data.
• Collect only what each service needs, and limit who can open sensitive records such as blotter and health entries.
• Have a breach plan: serious breaches go to the National Privacy Commission and affected residents within 72 hours of discovery.
• Check whether your system must be registered with the NPC, for example if it processes the data of 1,000 or more people (NPC Circular 2022-04).

The E-Governance Act (RA 12254)

Signed in September 2025, the E-Governance Act directs government, including local government units, to bring public services online. LGUs must build their own digital portal or adopt the DICT's eLGU system, and improve their websites. Under the Local Government Code, barangays are local government units too. BOS is a fast, supported way to have your own public portal: online services, transparency pages, and a real online address for residents.

Your barangay's checklist

• List the services residents come to the hall for, starting with clearances and certificates.
• Ask your DILG field office and city or municipal ICT office whether you should use eLGU, a shared city system, or your own portal.
• Keep an official website with an e-bulletin board for public notices (RA 12254, Sec. 20).
• If you build or buy a system, make sure it can meet the coming Local Government Digital Service Standard and connect to national systems.

DILG Full Disclosure

Under DILG MC 2010-149, as amended by MC 2014-81, the Punong Barangay posts six financial documents on a board in the barangay hall and on the barangay website if it has one. BOS includes a Full Disclosure dashboard and public budget pages, so the documents you already have to disclose live on your official website instead of a folder no one can find.

The six documents to post

• Barangay budget
• Summary of income and expenditures
• Use of the 20% development fund
• Annual procurement plan or procurement list
• List of notices of award
• Itemized monthly collections and disbursements

How your data is handled

• Each barangay's data is isolated from every other barangay's.
• Records are backed up nightly.
• Traffic is served over encrypted (HTTPS) connections.
• Passwords are stored hashed, and every admin login attempt is recorded.