DOST VIII's Privacy Policy

General Privacy Statement
The Department of Science and Technology Regional Office VIII (DOST VIII) respects and protects the privacy of our data subjects (employees, clients, providers and other stakeholders) and ensure that all personal information collected are processed lawfully, fairly, and appropriately in accordance with the confidentiality practices and applicable laws on data privacy.

Consent
When accessing our services through website and in-office whereby we collect your personal information through any format, including but not limited to online forms, you consent us to the collecting, processing, storing and use of your personal information, in accordance with this privacy policy. If you do not allow the collection, use, and processing of your personal information, kindly refrain from using our website, and/or contact us for any privacy-related concerns.

Collection and Use of Personal information
We collect personal information to enable us to deliver our services. We may collect, use, and process your personal information through various sources depending on how you interact with us (online and/or offline forms, over the phone, email, etc.).

Information you provide to us
Your personal information refers to any information, whether recorded in a material form or not, from which the identity of an individual is apparent or can be reasonably and directly ascertained by the entity holding the information, or when put together with other information would directly and certainly identify an individual. This may include your name, email address, telephone number, postal address, demographic information such as age, sex, income level, and /or any personal references needed to provide access to our service.

How we Use the Information we collect
We use the data collected to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and particularly, for the following reasons:

To verify your identity when you log-in, and to respond to your queries, requests and complaints;
To use the collected data to process information necessary with your transactions;
To collect the information to conduct research and analysis to improve our customer service;
To disclose information when the law requires us to do so in compliance with legal, regulatory, and contractual obligations;
To use the information to perform such other processing or disclosure that may be required by the DOST.

Privileged Information
Privileged information refers to any and all forms of data which under the Rules of Court and other pertinent laws constitute privileged communication.

The processing of privileged information shall be prohibited, except when (1)the data subject has given his or her consent, specific to the purpose prior to the processing, or in the case of privileged information, all parties to the exchange have given their consent prior to processing; (2) the processing of the same is provided for by existing laws and regulations; (3) the processing is necessary to achieve the lawful and noncommercial objectives of public organizations and their associations: Provided, That such processing is only confined and related to the bona fide members of these organizations or their associations: Provided, further, That the sensitive personal information are not transferred to third parties: Provided, finally, That consent of the data subject was obtained prior to processing.

Protection and Security of Data
All collected personal information shall be retained and kept with reasonable security measures for as long as necessary for the fulfillment of the purposes for which the data were obtained or as provided by law.

Effectivity
This Policy shall take effect immediately after being posted on DOST8 website. Adopted this 15th day of February 2022.

Privacy Policy Changes / Updates
This Privacy Policy will remain effective until any amendments, modifications or changes will be made at any time to comply with the latest directives from laws and regulations.

Questions/Concerns
For any questions and/or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please address your concerns to:

The Data Protection Officer
DOST VIII Regional Office Building
Government Center, Candahug
6501 Palo, Leyte, Philippines
Tel. Nos: (053) 888-4203 / 6036
https://region8.dost.gov.ph / https://facebook.com/dost8official