Background Screening – The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) APAC last month held their AGM at the Shangri-la in Manila, Philippines. The event was attended by close to 30 companies in the region, and RMI was one of the companies from the APAC region who attended to connect and engage with industry peers.
The platform brought together specialists in the background screening space and partners who supported the industry by providing technology, platforms, data, and information. The meeting was kicked off with a very engaging keynote presentation by Mr. Jay Gomez, Head of Information Security and Data Protection Officer for ABS-CBN Corporation. Mr. Gomez gave a comprehensive and holistic overview of data privacy laws in the Philippines, similar to the EU GDPR of 2018, and also touched on changing employment laws. It was a very interesting and timely presentation exploring the responsibility of protecting private information. The ins and outs of how responsibility flows from the client company (the data controller) to background screening companies (processor) were explored at length.
Following this, NAPBS presented their Global Accreditation Plan which generated much discussion. Some of the talking points raised were around standardizing internal screening processes, working in compliance with various data privacy and protection laws, and how each member can help to continuously provide feedback and opinions to tighten up areas in security and compliance with a vision of obtaining accreditation by 2020.
To wrap up the day, there was a panel discussion on “Challenges in Global Screening”, where members spoke about challenges faced when operating in a difficult background screening landscape, cross border transfer of data especially in challenging markets where data privacy legislation is murky and parameters around the use of public information in relation to hiring are never clearly defined. Candid views were shared and exchanged around best market practices and alternative processes to consider, about what works, what does not, and what to look out for. All with the common goal of completing checks easier and quicker, keeping results accurate, and providing a better service to our clients while conforming to the relevant legislation.
RMI learned a great deal from the event as well as through connecting with other members who exchanged thoughts on the use of technology, AI, and new platforms in background screening. Privacy laws and the changing regulatory environment that surrounds background screening is a topic of interest to us, and so it was great to hear more about what is currently transpiring in the Philippines and in other APAC nations. Read our latest blog ‘Background checks: An invasion of privacy or a legal responsibility? here (connect to latest blog)
