By Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo, Reporter
GRAB Philippines (MyTaxi.Ph Inc) said on Friday no data on Uber Philippines (Uber Systems Inc) users and drivers will be migrated to the Grab system.
“With regard to acquisition of Uber, there is no acquisition of data,” Grab Philippines country head Brian Cu said in a press conference.
National Privacy Commission (NPC) Commissioner Raymund E. Liboro said in a statement that the NPC and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) are jointly looking at the acquisition of Grab by Uber as regards the privacy of data subjects.
Uber announced last month that it was selling its Southeast Asian businesses, ride-sharing and food delivery, to Singapore-based rival Grab. The transaction gives Uber a 27.5% stake in Grab and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi a seat on the Grab board.
Mr. Liboro said Grab should implement security measures relating to privacy of users.
“Grab must implement appropriate organizational, physical, and technical security measures, if the acquisition will involve any personal data processing. Mechanisms to accommodate the public’s data privacy concerns relating to the deal should also be present,” Mr. Liboro said in a statement.
Mr. Cu added that Grab only has the trip history and cell phone numbers in their system. The cell phone numbers are for the verification of sign-ups while the trip history is for security purposes in case of untoward incidents.
Mr. Cu said Grab would “wait and see” the decision of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) on the acquisition of Uber. He, however, emphasized that the Uber app would go offline on April 8 as scheduled.
“Let’s just wait and see on what PCC comes out with. It is very hard to comment on expectations,” Mr. Cu told reporters.
Grab and Uber have opposed the PCC’s interim measures regarding the acquisition. Included are the independent operations of the two ride-sharing companies pending the conclusion of the review.

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