Jam is a recognised authority in privacy and data protection. He is a lawyer by profession and has worked on data protection for the past 8 years. He is the Data Protection Officer of the Ateneo de Manila University and Policy and Legal Advisor of the Foundation for Media Alternatives, a civil society organisation. He is also a consultant to a select number of organisations.
Jam has a firm grasp of the Philippines’s Data Privacy Act, having been involved in the crafting of its implementing rules and other issuances of the National Privacy Commission. As the agency’s Policy Director during its crucial first year, he led the unit charged with addressing all queries and clarifications pertaining to the law and its implementation. He is currently assisting 2 organisations build their privacy program from the ground up and is involved in the work of the Data Protection Council for Education.
Jam’s views on privacy-related issues are often cited by domestic and foreign news outlets. He is also a regular resource person at various local and international privacy forums such as those organised by the UN, Privacy International, APC, Facebook, and Google. Meanwhile, he produces a diverse range of written works including briefing papers, column pieces (i.e., GMA News Online and Rappler), and published articles (e.g., APC’s Global Information Society Watch and the Ateneo Law Journal). Jam is also a contributor to the World Intermediary Liability Map of Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society.
Jam is the founder of PRIVACY.PH, an online group of privacy advocates working to promote privacy and data protection in the Philippines.
Jam has degrees in Sociology and Law from the University of the Philippines, and a postgraduate degree in Human Rights Law (LL.M) from the University of Auckland. He has also taken up the Summer Course on US-EU Privacy Law and Policy at the University of Amsterdam.