Privacy Notice

1. What personal data we collect

• DTI staff accounts: name, email address, phone number, role, and office/region assignment.
• Startup registry records: venture name, founder name, sector, description, registered address/province, email, phone, and (if provided) logo and geolocation.
• Founder & Community Portal accounts: your Google account name, email address, and profile photo (used only to sign you in), plus what you choose to enter — designation, skills, bio, and your startup's details.
• Demo Wall / Talent Directory submissions: project details, links, and contact information you choose to submit for public display.
• Technical data: login session identifiers (cookies) needed to keep you signed in, and basic activity logs (e.g., who created/edited a record and when) for audit and security purposes.

2. Why we collect it, and our legal basis

We process personal data to:

• Administer the official DTI Region 6 startup registry, programs, and compliance monitoring;
• Operate staff accounts and enforce role-based access to the admin portal;
• Let founders and team members create a profile, register a startup, and — with their explicit consent — showcase it publicly on the Talent Directory and Demo Wall;
• Communicate with you about your account, submissions, or DTI Region 6 activities; and
• Maintain the security, integrity, and audit trail of this system.

Our legal basis is your consent (for Founder & Community Portal sign-up and public display of your information), the performance of DTI Region 6's mandate and public function under its charter, and, for staff accounts, the necessity of processing for employment/engagement purposes.

3. What is shown publicly — and what isn't

Founder/team profiles, community-submitted startups, and Demo Wall entries are only shown on our public pages after you submit them and DTI Region 6 reviews and approves them. You control what you enter, and you may request removal at any time (see Section 6). Your Google account password is never seen or stored by us — sign-in is handled entirely by Google and Supabase Authentication.

4. How long we keep your data

We retain account and registry data for as long as your account is active or as needed to fulfill DTI Region 6's reporting and audit obligations, and in line with applicable records-retention rules for government agencies. You may request deletion of your Founder & Community Portal account and associated submissions at any time, subject to legal and audit retention requirements.

5. How we protect your data

In line with NPC Circular No. 16-01, we apply organizational, physical, and technical safeguards, including: role-based access control, encrypted connections (HTTPS) end-to-end, database-level access policies that restrict who can read or write each record, and an email allowlist restricting staff admin access to authorized personnel only. In the unlikely event of a personal data breach likely to give rise to harm, we will notify the NPC and affected individuals within the timelines required by NPC Circular No. 16-03 (generally within 72 hours of discovery).

6. Your rights as a data subject

Under the Data Privacy Act, you have the right to:

• Be informed that your personal data will be, are being, or have been processed;
• Access your personal data that we hold;
• Object to or withdraw consent for processing, including removal from public pages;
• Correct any inaccurate or outdated personal data;
• Erase or block your data under certain conditions;
• Be indemnified for damages from unlawful processing; and
• File a complaint with the National Privacy Commission (privacy.gov.ph).

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in Section 7, or use the account controls on your Community Portal dashboard.

7. Contact us / Data Protection Officer

Department of Trade and Industry, Regional Office VI (Western Visayas)
Email: dtir6ai@gmail.com (please mark the subject line “Data Privacy Request”)

8. Changes to this Notice

We may update this Notice from time to time. Material changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date. See also our Cookie Notice for details on cookies used by this site.