Grab riders assured of personal data safety

Ride-sharing company Grab Philippines assured commuters yesterday it has tightened its security measures to protect riders’ data.

The assurance came following the recent admission of rival company, Uber that it fell victim to data breach in 2016 that compromised millions of accounts globally.

Brian Cu, country head of Grab Philippines, said they take all security measures seriously and are committed to fully subscribe to the rules and regulations of the Data Privacy Act in the Philippines.

Cu added they are also having a regular dialogue with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

Unlike other ride-sharing apps, Cu said they have not yet experienced the same problem that Uber had since the time they started operating in the Philippines.

He assured commuters of transparency should it happen to the company but noted it is impossible given Grab’s safety measures.

Cu urged riders to do their part in avoiding data breach by changing passwords of their applications or cancelling certain accounts if needed.

Cu added they do not store all of the commuters data like credit card information that are handled directly by party institutions such as banks and other payment gateways.

Grab only keeps basic information such as name, e-mail address and contact numbers, Cu said.

Grab, which has been operating in the country for more than five years, launched yesterday its new “costumer experience” office in Makati City by increasing the number of personnel responsible in answering queries and problems with the Grab system.

Cu said they expect more calls from commuters this holiday season with the higher demand.

Grab said traffic problems in Metro Manila have gotten worse but it cried foul over reports blaming transport network vehicles (TNVs) for these.

Cu said the average trip of a Grab ride was only around 30 minutes over the past six months compared to 45 minutes per trip lately, or slower by 15 minutes.

Cu pointed out the transport network companies like Grab should also not be blamed for the traffic problem since the situation did not get better when they were stopped by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board from adding more cars on the road in August.