The DICT shall facilitate the turnover of StaySafe.ph rights to the Philippine government.
Malacañang on Friday announced that the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) shall facilitate the turnover of StaySafe.ph rights to the Philippine government.
In a report on Manila Bulletin, the national government will finally obtain the rights over StaySafe.ph, the country’s official contact tracing app, in order to enhance the fight against the spread of COVID-19.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque announced that the certification of StaySafe.ph donation to the Republic of the Philippines will be arranged by the Department of Information of Communications Technology (DICT).
Roque said over government television that the Department of Information and Communications Technology shall issue the necessary certifications and shall facilitate the turnover of rights of the StaySafe.ph to the Republic of the Philippines, as donee, which was represented by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
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Last September, the national government launched the Staysafe.ph as the official app in order to trace close contacts of people with COVID-19 illness.
Under the agreement forged last 2020, the developer was supposed to donate the source code, data ownership, data, and intellectual property to the Department of Health (DOH).
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases then directed the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the National Privacy Commission (NPC) in order to make sure that the donation will be “technically feasible and secure”, the systems were compatible, and the arrangement was compliant with data privacy laws.
But months since the launch, Malacañang had noticed that StaySafe.ph app had not been fully implemented across the Philippines.
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Roque admitted that the contact tracing was an area that needed improvement as the country’s COVID-19 cases continued to surge in the Philippines.
Several lawmakers have called for a unified contact tracing app following the emergence of different tracking apps implemented by different local government units and establishments.
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