The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) assured the public that personal data stored in the government’s eGov PH mobile application remains secure, stressing that all information is fully encrypted and inaccessible even to its own developers.
DICT Undersecretary for e-Government David Almirol Jr. explained that the app was built with “cybersecurity by design,” meaning safeguards were integrated from the very beginning of its development.
“But that’s not possible because (with) eGov, we have full encryption of data. So meaning even us, even our programmers, cannot read the data. Not even a third party can declare that they hacked eGov,” Almirol said in a television interview.
He added that encryption ensures sensitive user information cannot be viewed in plain text, providing an extra layer of protection against unauthorized access.
“Part of our agenda is cybersecurity by design, meaning as we implement things, we put the cybersecurity in it. Nangyayari ‘yan during the development side pa lang. So (ang) ginawa namin, nag-full encrypt kami para wala kaming problema,” Almirol noted.
Almirol also dismissed claims that about 200,000 “know-your-customer” records—including names, addresses, and email details—had been exposed, clarifying that the materials cited were merely complaint case listings, not actual user registration databases.