Data privacy

Just recently, the Supreme Court made public a 2023 ruling which pointed out that the use of online chat logs and videos as evidence does not violate the right to privacy.

- MARY ANN LL. REYES

In a decision promulgated Oct. 9, 2023 but made public only last week, the SC upheld the conviction of a man for qualified trafficking and rejected the accused's argument that his recorded chat logs and videos were inadmissible as evidence.

The High Tribunal held that Republic Act 10173 or the Data Privacy Act (DPA) of 2012 allows the processing of sensitive personal information when it is related to determining criminal liability of a data subject and when necessary for the protection of lawful rights and interests in court proceedings.

According to a news report, the case stemmed from an investigation by the Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force of Region 7 in 2013 following a tip from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (US ICE).

A decoy account was used by a police officer to communicate with Eul Vincent Rodriguez on various platforms and to record their exchanges.

During the trial, Rodriguez argued that his right to due process was violated when the chat logs and videos of his conversation with the police were presented as these were not related to the incident alleged in the information filed against him, and that these pieces of evidence were an intrusion of his constitutional right to privacy of communication and in violation of RA 4200 or the Anti-Wiretapping Act.