1. Introduction and Scope

Tagabantay ("we", "our", "us") is committed to protecting your personal data in accordance with Republic Act No. 10173, the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (DPA), and its implementing rules and regulations as enforced by the National Privacy Commission (NPC) of the Philippines.

This Privacy Policy describes what personal information we collect, how we use it, how we protect it, and your rights as a data subject under Philippine law.

2. Personal Information We Collect

We may collect the following categories of personal data:

3. Purposes and Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data for the following purposes, each grounded in the lawful bases under the DPA:

• Account Registration & Authentication — To create and manage your account and verify your identity.
• Caregiver Verification — To verify credentials, clearances, and suitability of Providers.
• Service Matching & Job Fulfillment — To connect Hirers with appropriate Caregivers and facilitate engagements.
• Digital Contract Creation — To generate, store, and execute legally binding agreements.
• Payment Processing — To manage job posting fees and payment verification.
• Safety & Emergency Features — Location data is used during active jobs for emergency response and geofencing.
• Platform Improvement — Aggregated and anonymized usage data is used to improve the app experience.
• Legal Compliance — To comply with applicable Philippine laws and regulations.

4. Sensitive Personal Information

Government-issued clearance documents constitute sensitive personal information under the DPA. We handle these with the highest level of care. They are used exclusively for identity and background verification and are accessible only to authorized platform administrators. We do not sell, trade, or disclose sensitive personal information to third parties except as required by law or as consented to by you.

5. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We may share your personal data with:

• Other Platform Users — Profile information visible to Hirers or Providers as part of job matching (e.g., name, photo, ratings, skills).
• Service Providers — Technology vendors and cloud infrastructure providers who process data on our behalf under strict data processing agreements.
• Government Authorities — When required by law, court order, or to comply with legal obligations under Philippine law.
• Dispute Resolution — In cases of disputes, relevant data may be shared with mediators or courts.

We do not sell your personal information to any third party for commercial purposes.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by applicable law. When data is no longer needed, it is securely deleted or anonymized. Inactive accounts may be subject to data deletion after reasonable notice.

7. Your Rights as a Data Subject

Under the Data Privacy Act of 2012, you have the following rights:

• Right to be Informed — You have the right to know how your data is being collected and used.
• Right to Access — You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification — You may request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to Erasure or Blocking — You may request deletion of your data under certain circumstances.
• Right to Object — You may object to the processing of your data for certain purposes.
• Right to Data Portability — You may request a copy of your data in a machine-readable format.
• Right to File a Complaint — You may file a complaint with the National Privacy Commission (NPC) at www.privacy.gov.ph.

To exercise any of your rights, please contact us at info@tagabantay.com. We will respond within 15 business days.

8. Security Measures

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These include encrypted data transmission (HTTPS/TLS), access controls, and regular security reviews. However, no transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we encourage users to protect their own account credentials.

9. Cookies and Tracking

The Platform may use session tokens and local storage for authentication and functionality. We do not use third-party advertising cookies. Usage analytics may be collected in aggregated form for platform improvement purposes.

10. Cross-Border Data Transfer

Your personal data may be stored on servers outside the Philippines. In such cases, we ensure that any cross-border transfer complies with the standards set by the National Privacy Commission and that adequate safeguards are in place to protect your data.

11. Children's Privacy

Tagabantay is strictly for users aged 18 and above. We do not knowingly collect, use, or store personal information from anyone under 18 years of age. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child has submitted information to us, please contact us immediately and we will take steps to remove such data and close the account.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or applicable law. We will notify you of material changes via in-app notification or email. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

13. Data Protection Officer & Contact

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or the handling of your personal data, please reach out to us: