Think about what passes through your office copier in a normal week: employment contracts, client forms, payslips, bank letters, scanned government IDs. Much of it is personal data, and it all goes through a shared device in the corridor that nobody thinks of as an IT system.
It is one. A modern multifunction printer (MFP) is a networked computer with storage, a user interface and, usually, an address book. This guide is for office managers, operations leads and IT generalists who want a plain checklist of what to ask about copier security, whether you rent or buy, and from whom.
Everything below is framed as questions to ask your provider. Features and settings differ by brand, model and firmware, so the honest answer is almost always “it depends on the machine and how it is set up”.
Why the copier belongs in your data privacy thinking
The Philippines regulates personal data under Republic Act No. 10173, the Data Privacy Act of 2012, which is administered by the National Privacy Commission (NPC). Section 20 of the Act requires a personal information controller to implement reasonable and appropriate organisational, physical and technical security measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration and destruction.
Those three categories are worth noting, because a copier sits in all of them. Who may use the device is organisational. Where the machine stands and what sits in its output tray is physical. Encryption, authentication and data overwriting are technical.
There is also no single prescribed standard. The Implementing Rules and Regulations direct that an appropriate level of security takes account of factors such as the nature of the personal data to be protected, the risks posed by the processing, the size and complexity of the organisation, and the current state of technology. A small accounting firm and a large BPO will not arrive at the same answer.
Accountability stays with your organisation even when the machine is rented and serviced by someone else. That makes the questions below worth asking.
This is general information, not legal advice. For how the Data Privacy Act applies to your business, speak to your Data Protection Officer or a qualified adviser.
1. Locked print: stop pages waiting in the tray
The classic copier leak is not a hacker. It is a payroll report sitting in the output tray for twenty minutes while people walk past.
Secure print, also called locked print, pull printing or “follow-me” printing, holds a job until the person who sent it is standing at the device and releases it with a PIN, card or login. Questions to ask:
- Is secure or locked print available on the models we are considering, and is it built in or an extra software licence?
- How is a job released: PIN, ID card, badge, or mobile app?
- What happens to jobs nobody releases? Can they be deleted automatically after a set time?
- Are held jobs encrypted while they wait, on the device or on a print server?
2. Authentication at the device
Locked print only works if the device knows who you are. Authentication at the panel also controls who can copy, scan and send.
- Can users log in with a PIN, card or directory account, and can this be required for copy and scan as well as print?
- Who holds the administrator password? Has the factory default been changed, and by whom?
- Can access be removed quickly when someone resigns or a contract ends?
- Is there a usage log of who printed, copied or scanned, and who can see it?
For small teams a PIN is a sensible start. The point is that “anyone can walk up and use it” should be a decision, not a default you forgot about.
3. What a copier can store: ask before you assume
Many multifunction printers keep information on internal storage. Depending on the model, that can include address books, user authentication data, stored and temporarily stored documents, fax data and job logs. Manufacturers commonly offer functions such as encrypting stored data and overwriting temporary job data, but supported security features vary by product and are not always switched on by default.
Whatever brand you use, here is what to ask:
- Does this model have a hard drive or other storage? What does it hold: scanned images, print jobs, fax data, job history, address book entries?
- Is stored data encrypted? Is temporary job data overwritten automatically, and is that setting turned on?
- Are stored documents (for example, scan-to-box or document server folders) in use, and who can open them?
- Does the address book contain real staff or client details, and who can export it?
- Who applies firmware updates and security patches, and how often?
“Very little is stored” is a fine answer, provided it is confirmed for the exact model in your office.
4. End of contract, end of life: the wipe
The riskiest moment in a copier’s life is often the day it leaves the building. Rental terms end, machines are upgraded, units are swapped after a repair. If storage inside has not been cleared, your data goes with the device.
Ask before you sign, not on pull-out day:
- What is the procedure for clearing stored data when a machine is returned, replaced or taken out for repair?
- Is it a documented, repeatable step, such as an overwrite of the hard drive, or just a factory reset?
- Will we get written confirmation that data was cleared, and can we witness or request it?
- Does our contract say who is responsible for data on the device after it leaves our site?
- For purchased or refurbished machines, what is the plan for disposal or trade-in?
Keep any confirmation with your records.
5. Know what you would do if something went wrong
A copier incident can become a reportable one. If personal data is exposed in a way that triggers the Act’s notification requirements, a personal information controller is generally required to notify the NPC and the affected data subjects within 72 hours of knowledge of, or reasonable belief in, the breach, with a fuller breach report following.
That timeline is short, so it is worth knowing in advance:
- Who in the office would notice and escalate a document or device incident?
- Do we have the device logs we would need to understand what happened?
- Does our provider know who to contact, and how quickly, if a machine is involved?
- Is this written down anywhere, or does it depend on one person remembering?
Your Data Protection Officer should own this process. The copier is simply one more place it needs to reach.
Ask the questions before you sign
None of this requires a large security budget. Most of it is a conversation with your provider before the equipment arrives, and a few settings confirmed once it does.
Contact McLink Copy Services Philippines to discuss secure printing, device access and end-of-contract data handling for your office copier or multifunction printer.