Australia wants to give people the right to erase their data. Should PH do the same?

Australia’s proposed right to erasure could give consumers more control over personal data. Could the Philippines adopt a similar approach?

Deleting an old social media account is easy enough. Getting a company to actually delete the personal information it collected from you can be another story.

Australia is moving toward giving consumers greater control over that information, with the government announcing plans to introduce a right to erasure. This would allow people to ask organizations to delete their personal information in certain circumstances. The proposal is part of wider privacy reforms intended to give Australians greater control over how their personal data is collected and used.

The idea is fairly straightforward. If a person no longer wants a company to hold certain personal information, there should be circumstances in which that person can ask for it to be deleted.

That could cover information held by digital platforms, apps and other businesses, although there would be exceptions where organizations have legitimate reasons to retain data, such as complying with legal obligations.

Could the Philippines adopt something similar?

The country already has the Data Privacy Act of 2012, which gives individuals rights over their personal information and allows them to request access, correction and, under certain conditions, blocking or removal of personal data.

But a right to erasure could make that control more visible and easier for ordinary users to understand.

Think about the number of places where a person’s information can accumulate over the years. There are old shopping accounts and food-delivery apps. Online subscriptions and loyalty programs can hold onto data, too. So can job applications, financial services and social-media platforms.

A person may stop using a service without knowing whether the company has deleted the information it collected along the way. An old phone number, email address, home address or other personal details can remain stored even after the account itself has been abandoned.

There is also a business reason to take the issue seriously.

Companies collect customer information because it has value. It can help provide services and process transactions. It can also be used to personalize offers or understand customer behavior. The same data can become a liability when it is retained unnecessarily, poorly protected or accessed by people who should not have it.

Australia’s proposed approach could therefore give consumers another tool while also pushing businesses to become more disciplined about what information they keep and why.

Still, giving consumers a deletion right does not mean every piece of data should disappear whenever someone asks.

Banks, insurers, telecommunications companies and other regulated businesses may have legal obligations requiring them to retain certain records. Companies may also need information to resolve disputes, prevent fraud or defend legal claims.

That means a Philippine version would need clear exceptions and a practical process for deciding when a deletion request should be granted.

There is also the question of enforcement. A right is only useful if consumers know how to exercise it and companies have a clear obligation to respond. The Philippines already has a privacy framework, but asking a person to navigate privacy policies, contact forms and technical procedures can be very different from giving them a simple and recognizable right to request deletion.

Australia’s approach offers the Philippines something worth examining as privacy becomes increasingly tied to everyday commerce.

Filipinos already hand over personal information to businesses every day, often without thinking about where that information goes after the transaction ends. Giving people greater control over what companies continue to keep could be one way of putting some of that control back in their hands.

The Philippines already gives people rights over their personal data. The next step could be making it easier for ordinary consumers to use those rights, especially when they simply want a company to stop keeping information it no longer needs.

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