THIRD DIVISION

[G.R. No. 202666. September 29, 2014.]

RHONDA AVE S. VIVARES and SPS. MARGARITA and DAVID

SUZARA, petitioners, vs. ST. THERESA'S COLLEGE, MYLENE
RHEZA T. ESCUDERO, and JOHN DOES, respondents.

DECISION

VELASCO, JR., J : p

The individual's desire for privacy is never absolute, since

participation in society is an equally powerful desire. Thus each
individual is continually engaged in a personal adjustment process in
which he balances the desire for privacy with the desire for disclosure
and communication of himself to others, in light of the environmental
conditions and social norms set by the society in which he lives.

~ Alan Westin, Privacy and Freedom (1967)

The Case
Before Us is a Petition for Review on Certiorari under Rule 45 of the Rules
of Court, in relation to Section 19 of A.M. No. 08-1-16-SC, 1 otherwise known as
the "Rule on the Writ of Habeas Data." Petitioners herein assail the July 27,
2012 Decision 2 of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 14 in Cebu City (RTC) in SP.
Proc. No. 19251-CEB, which dismissed their habeas data petition.

The Facts

Nenita Julia V. Daluz (Julia) and Julienne Vida Suzara (Julienne), both
minors, were, during the period material, graduating high school students at St.
Theresa's College (STC), Cebu City. Sometime in January 2012, while changing
into their swimsuits for a beach party they were about to attend, Julia and
Julienne, along with several others, took digital pictures of themselves clad only
in their undergarments. These pictures were then uploaded by Angela Lindsay
Tan (Angela) on her Facebook 3 profile.
Back at the school, Mylene Rheza T. Escudero (Escudero), a computer
teacher at STC's high school department, learned from her students that some
seniors at STC posted pictures online, depicting themselves from the waist up,
dressed only in brassieres. Escudero then asked her students if they knew who
the girls in the photos are. In turn, they readily identified Julia, Julienne, and
Chloe Lourdes Taboada (Chloe), among others.

Using STC's computers, Escudero's students logged in to their respective

personal Facebook accounts and showed her photos of the identified students,
which include: (a) Julia and Julienne drinking hard liquor and smoking cigarettes
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inside a bar; and (b) Julia and Julienne along the streets of Cebu wearing articles
of clothing that show virtually the entirety of their black brassieres. What is
more, Escudero's students claimed that there were times when access to or the
availability of the identified students' photos was not confined to the girls'
Facebook friends, 4 but were, in fact, viewable by any Facebook user.5
Upon discovery, Escudero reported the matter and, through one of her
student's Facebook page, showed the photos to Kristine Rose Tigol (Tigol),
STC's Discipline-in-Charge, for appropriate action. Thereafter, following an
investigation, STC found the identified students to have deported themselves in
a manner proscribed by the school's Student Handbook, to wit:
1. Possession of alcoholic drinks outside the school campus;
2. Engaging in immoral, indecent, obscene or lewd acts;

3. Smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages in public places;

4. Apparel that exposes the underwear;
5. Clothing that advocates unhealthy behaviour; depicts obscenity;
contains sexually suggestive messages, language or
symbols; and

6. Posing and uploading pictures on the Internet that entail ample

body exposure.
On March 1, 2012, Julia, Julienne, Angela, and the other students in the
pictures in question, reported, as required, to the office of Sr. Celeste Ma.
Purisima Pe (Sr. Purisima), STC's high school principal and ICM 6 Directress.
They claimed that during the meeting, they were castigated and verbally
abused by the STC officials present in the conference, including Assistant
Principal Mussolini S. Yap (Yap), Roswinda Jumiller, and Tigol. What is more, Sr.
Purisima informed their parents the following day that, as part of their penalty,
they are barred from joining the commencement exercises scheduled on March
30, 2012. EDHCSI

A week before graduation, or on March 23, 2012, Angela's mother, Dr.

Armenia M. Tan (Tan), filed a Petition for Injunction and Damages before the
RTC of Cebu City against STC, et al., docketed as Civil Case No. CEB-38594. 7 In
it, Tan prayed that defendants therein be enjoined from implementing the
sanction that precluded Angela from joining the commencement exercises. On
March 25, 2012, petitioner Rhonda Ave Vivares (Vivares), the mother of Julia,
joined the fray as an intervenor.
On March 28, 2012, defendants in Civil Case No. CEB-38594 filed their
memorandum, containing printed copies of the photographs in issue as
annexes. That same day, the RTC issued a temporary restraining order (TRO)
allowing the students to attend the graduation ceremony, to which STC filed a
motion for reconsideration.
Despite the issuance of the TRO, STC, nevertheless, barred the
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sanctioned students from participating in the graduation rites, arguing that, on
the date of the commencement exercises, its adverted motion for
reconsideration on the issuance of the TRO remained unresolved.
Thereafter, petitioners filed before the RTC a Petition for the Issuance of a
Writ of Habeas Data, docketed as SP. Proc. No. 19251-CEB 8 on the basis of the
following considerations:
1. The photos of their children in their undergarments (e.g., bra)
were taken for posterity before they changed into their
swimsuits on the occasion of a birthday beach party;
2. The privacy setting of their children's Facebook accounts was
set at "Friends Only." They, thus, have a reasonable
expectation of privacy which must be respected.
3. Respondents, being involved in the field of education, knew or
ought to have known of laws that safeguard the right to
privacy. Corollarily, respondents knew or ought to have
known that the girls, whose privacy has been invaded, are
the victims in this case, and not the offenders. Worse, after
viewing the photos, the minors were called "immoral" and
were punished outright;
4. The photos accessed belong to the girls and, thus, cannot be
used and reproduced without their consent. Escudero,
however, violated their rights by saving digital copies of the
photos and by subsequently showing them to STC's officials.
Thus, the Facebook accounts of petitioners' children were
intruded upon;
5. The intrusion into the Facebook accounts, as well as the copying
of information, data, and digital images happened at STC's
Computer Laboratory; and

6. All the data and digital images that were extracted were boldly
broadcasted by respondents through their memorandum
submitted to the RTC in connection with Civil Case No. CEB-
38594.
To petitioners, the interplay of the foregoing constitutes an invasion of
their children's privacy and, thus, prayed that: (a) a writ of habeas data be
issued; (b) respondents be ordered to surrender and deposit with the court all
soft and printed copies of the subject data before or at the preliminary hearing;
and (c) after trial, judgment be rendered declaring all information, data, and
digital images accessed, saved or stored, reproduced, spread and used, to have
been illegally obtained in violation of the children's right to privacy.
Finding the petition sufficient in form and substance, the RTC, through an
Order dated July 5, 2012, issued the writ of habeas data. Through the same
Order, herein respondents were directed to file their verified written return,
together with the supporting affidavits, within five (5) working days from
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service of the writ.

In time, respondents complied with the RTC's directive and filed their
verified written return, laying down the following grounds for the denial of the
petition, viz.: (a) petitioners are not the proper parties to file the petition; (b)
petitioners are engaging in forum shopping; (c) the instant case is not one
where a writ of habeas data may issue; and (d) there can be no violation of
their right to privacy as there is no reasonable expectation of privacy on
Facebook.

Ruling of the Regional Trial Court

On July 27, 2012, the RTC rendered a Decision dismissing the petition for
habeas data. The dispositive portion of the Decision pertinently states:
WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing premises, the Petition is
hereby DISMISSED.
The parties and media must observe the aforestated
confidentiality.
xxx xxx xxx

SO ORDERED. 9 SEcTHA

To the trial court, petitioners failed to prove the existence of an actual or

threatened violation of the minors' right to privacy, one of the preconditions for
the issuance of the writ of habeas data. Moreover, the court a quo held that the
photos, having been uploaded on Facebook without restrictions as to who may
view them, lost their privacy in some way. Besides, the RTC noted, STC
gathered the photographs through legal means and for a legal purpose, that is,
the implementation of the school's policies and rules on discipline.
Not satisfied with the outcome, petitioners now come before this Court
pursuant to Section 19 of the Rule on Habeas Data. 10
The Issues

The main issue to be threshed out in this case is whether or not a writ of
habeas data should be issued given the factual milieu. Crucial in resolving the
controversy, however, is the pivotal point of whether or not there was indeed
an actual or threatened violation of the right to privacy in the life, liberty, or
security of the minors involved in this case.

Our Ruling

We find no merit in the petition.

Procedural issues concerning the
availability of the Writ of Habeas Data
The writ of habeas data is a remedy available to any person whose right
to privacy in life, liberty or security is violated or threatened by an unlawful act
or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity
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engaged in the gathering, collecting or storing of data or information regarding
the person, family, home and correspondence of the aggrieved party. 11 It is an
independent and summary remedy designed to protect the image, privacy,
honor, information, and freedom of information of an individual, and to provide
a forum to enforce one's right to the truth and to informational privacy. It seeks
to protect a person's right to control information regarding oneself, particularly
in instances in which such information is being collected through unlawful
means in order to achieve unlawful ends. 12 IaTSED

In developing the writ of habeas data, the Court aimed to protect an

individual's right to informational privacy, among others. A comparative law
scholar has, in fact, defined habeas data as "a procedure designed to safeguard
individual freedom from abuse in the information age." 13 The writ, however,
will not issue on the basis merely of an alleged unauthorized access to
information about a person. Availment of the writ requires the existence of a
nexus between the right to privacy on the one hand, and the right to life, liberty
or security on the other. 14 Thus, the existence of a person's right to
informational privacy and a showing, at least by substantial evidence, of an
actual or threatened violation of the right to privacy in life, liberty or security of
the victim are indispensable before the privilege of the writ may be extended.
15

Without an actionable entitlement in the first place to the right to

informational privacy, a habeas data petition will not prosper. Viewed from the
perspective of the case at bar, this requisite begs this question: given the
nature of an online social network (OSN) — (1) that it facilitates and promotes
real-time interaction among millions, if not billions, of users, sans the spatial
barriers, 16 bridging the gap created by physical space; and (2) that any
information uploaded in OSNs leaves an indelible trace in the provider's
databases, which are outside the control of the end-users — is there a right
to informational privacy in OSN activities of its users? Before addressing
this point, We must first resolve the procedural issues in this case.

a. The writ of habeas data is not only confined to cases of

extralegal killings and enforced disappearances
Contrary to respondents' submission, the Writ of Habeas Data was not
enacted solely for the purpose of complementing the Writ of Amparo in cases
of extralegal killings and enforced disappearances.

Section 2 of the Rule on the Writ of Habeas Data provides:

Sec. 2. Who May File. — Any aggrieved party may file a petition
for the writ of habeas data. However, in cases of extralegal killings
and enforced disappearances, the petition may be filed by:

(a) Any member of the immediate family of the aggrieved party,

namely: the spouse, children and parents; or

(b) Any ascendant, descendant or collateral relative of the

aggrieved party within the fourth civil degree of
consanguinity or affinity, in default of those mentioned in
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the preceding paragraph. (emphasis supplied)

Had the framers of the Rule intended to narrow the operation of the writ
only to cases of extralegal killings or enforced disappearances, the above
underscored portion of Section 2, reflecting a variance of habeas data
situations, would not have been made.

Habeas data, to stress, was designed "to safeguard individual freedom

from abuse in the information age." 17 As such, it is erroneous to limit its
applicability to extralegal killings and enforced disappearances only. In fact, the
annotations to the Rule prepared by the Committee on the Revision of the
Rules of Court, after explaining that the Writ of Habeas Data complements the
Writ of Amparo, pointed out that:
The writ of habeas data , however, can be availed of as an
independent remedy to enforce one's right to privacy, more
specifically the right to informational privacy. The remedies
against the violation of such right can include the updating,
rectification, suppression or destruction of the database or information
or files in possession or in control of respondents. 18 (emphasis Ours)

Clearly then, the privilege of the Writ of Habeas Data may also be availed
of in cases outside of extralegal killings and enforced disappearances.

b. Meaning of "engaged" in the gathering, collecting or

storing of data or information

Respondents' contention that the habeas data writ may not issue against
STC, it not being an entity engaged in the gathering, collecting or storing of
data or information regarding the person, family, home and correspondence of
the aggrieved party, while valid to a point, is, nonetheless, erroneous.
To be sure, nothing in the Rule would suggest that the habeas data
protection shall be available only against abuses of a person or entity engaged
in the business of gathering, storing, and collecting of data. As provided under
Section 1 of the Rule:
Section 1. Habeas Data. — The writ of habeas data is a remedy
available to any person whose right to privacy in life, liberty or security
is violated or threatened by an unlawful act or omission of a public
official or employee, or of a private individual or entity engaged
in the gathering, collecting or storing of data or information
regarding the person, family, home and correspondence of the
aggrieved party. (emphasis Ours)

The provision, when taken in its proper context, as a whole, irresistibly

conveys the idea thathabeas data is a protection against unlawful acts or
omissions of public officials and of private individuals or entities engaged in
gathering, collecting, or storing data about the aggrieved party and his or her
correspondences, or about his or her family. Such individual or entity need not
be in the business of collecting or storing data. ATcEDS

To "engage" in something is different from undertaking a business

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endeavour. To "engage" means "to do or take part in something." 19 It does not
necessarily mean that the activity must be done in pursuit of a business. What
matters is that the person or entity must be gathering, collecting or storing said
data or information about the aggrieved party or his or her family. Whether
such undertaking carries the element of regularity, as when one pursues a
business, and is in the nature of a personal endeavour, for any other reason or
even for no reason at all, is immaterial and such will not prevent the writ from
getting to said person or entity.
To agree with respondents' above argument, would mean unduly limiting
the reach of the writ to a very small group, i.e., private persons and entities
whose business is data gathering and storage, and in the process decreasing
the effectiveness of the writ as an instrument designed to protect a right which
is easily violated in view of rapid advancements in the information and
communications technology — a right which a great majority of the users of
technology themselves are not capable of protecting.
Having resolved the procedural aspect of the case, We now proceed to
the core of the controversy.
The right to informational privacy on Facebook

a. The Right to Informational Privacy

The concept of privacy has, through time, greatly evolved, with
technological advancements having an influential part therein. This evolution
was briefly recounted in former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno's speech, The
Common Right to Privacy, 20 where he explained the three strands of the right
to privacy, viz.: (1) locational or situational privacy; 21 (2) informational privacy;
and (3) decisional privacy. 22 Of the three, what is relevant to the case at bar is
t h e right to informational privacy — usually defined as the right of
individuals to control information about themselves. 23
With the availability of numerous avenues for information gathering and
data sharing nowadays, not to mention each system's inherent vulnerability to
attacks and intrusions, there is more reason that every individual's right to
control said flow of information should be protected and that each individual
should have at least a reasonable expectation of privacy in cyberspace. Several
commentators regarding privacy and social networking sites, however, all
agree that given the millions of OSN users, "[i]n this [Social Networking]
environment, privacy is no longer grounded in reasonable expectations, but
rather in some theoretical protocol better known as wishful thinking." 24

It is due to this notion that the Court saw the pressing need to provide for
judicial remedies that would allow a summary hearing of the unlawful use of
data or information and to remedy possible violations of the right to privacy. 25
In the same vein, the South African High Court, in its Decision in the landmark
case, H v. W, 26 promulgated on January 30, 2013, recognized that "[t]he law
has to take into account the changing realities not only technologically but also
socially or else it will lose credibility in the eyes of the people. . . . It is
imperative that the courts respond appropriately to changing times, acting
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cautiously and with wisdom." Consistent with this, the Court, by developing
what may be viewed as the Philippine model of the writ of habeas data, in
effect, recognized that, generally speaking, having an expectation of
informational privacy is not necessarily incompatible with engaging in
cyberspace activities, including those that occur in OSNs.

The question now though is up to what extent is the right to privacy

protected in OSNs? Bear in mind that informational privacy involves personal
information. At the same time, the very purpose of OSNs is socializing —
sharing a myriad of information, 27 some of which would have otherwise
remained personal.
b. Facebook's Privacy Tools: a response to the clamor for
privacy in OSN activities
Briefly, the purpose of an OSN is precisely to give users the ability to
interact and to stay connected to other members of the same or different social
media platform through the sharing of statuses, photos, videos, among others,
depending on the services provided by the site. It is akin to having a room filled
with millions of personal bulletin boards or "walls," the contents of which are
under the control of each and every user. In his or her bulletin board, a
user/owner can post anything — from text, to pictures, to music and videos —
access to which would depend on whether he or she allows one, some or all of
the other users to see his or her posts. Since gaining popularity, the OSN
phenomenon has paved the way to the creation of various social networking
sites, including the one involved in the case at bar, www.facebook.com
(Facebook), which, according to its developers, people use "to stay connected
with friends and family, to discover what's going on in the world, and to share
and express what matters to them." 28
Facebook connections are established through the process of "friending"
another user. By sending a "friend request," the user invites another to connect
their accounts so that they can view any and all "Public" and "Friends Only"
posts of the other. Once the request is accepted, the link is established and
both users are permitted to view the other user's "Public" or "Friends Only"
posts, among others. "Friending," therefore, allows the user to form or maintain
one-to-one relationships with other users, whereby the user gives his or her
"Facebook friend" access to his or her profile and shares certain information to
the latter. 29

To address concerns about privacy, 30 but without defeating its purpose,

Facebook was armed with different privacy tools designed to regulate the
accessibility of a user's profile 31 as well as information uploaded by the user. In
H v. W , 32 the South Gauteng High Court recognized this ability of the users to
"customize their privacy settings," but did so with this caveat: "Facebook states
in its policies that, although it makes every effort to protect a user's
information, these privacy settings are not fool-proof." 33

For instance, a Facebook user can regulate the visibility and accessibility
o f digital images (photos), posted on his or her personal bulletin or "wall,"
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except for the user's profile picture and ID, by selecting his or her desired
privacy setting:
(a) Public — the default setting; every Facebook user can view the
photo;
(b) Friends of Friends — only the user's Facebook friends and their
friends can view the photo;
(b) Friends — only the user's Facebook friends can view the photo;

(c) Custom — the photo is made visible only to particular friends

and/or networks of the Facebook user; and

(d) Only Me — the digital image can be viewed only by the user.
The foregoing are privacy tools, available to Facebook users, designed to
set up barriers to broaden or limit the visibility of his or her specific profile
content, statuses, and photos, among others, from another user's point of view.
In other words, Facebook extends its users an avenue to make the availability
of their Facebook activities reflect their choice as to "when and to what extent
to disclose facts about [themselves] — and to put others in the position of
receiving such confidences." 34 Ideally, the selected setting will be based on
one's desire to interact with others, coupled with the opposing need to withhold
certain information as well as to regulate the spreading of his or her personal
information. Needless to say, as the privacy setting becomes more limiting,
fewer Facebook users can view that user's particular post. ISDCHA

STC did not violate petitioners' daughters' right to privacy

Without these privacy settings, respondents' contention that there is no
reasonable expectation of privacy in Facebook would, in context, be correct.
However, such is not the case. It is through the availability of said privacy
tools that many OSN users are said to have a subjective expectation
that only those to whom they grant access to their profile will view
the information they post or upload thereto. 35

This, however, does not mean that any Facebook user automatically has a
protected expectation of privacy in all of his or her Facebook activities.
Before one can have an expectation of privacy in his or her OSN activity,
it is first necessary that said user , in this case the children of petitioners,
manifest the intention to keep certain posts private, through the
employment of measures to prevent access thereto or to limit its
visibility. 36 And this intention can materialize in cyberspace through the
utilization of the OSN's privacy tools. In other words, utilization of these
privacy tools is the manifestation, in cyber world, of the user's
invocation of his or her right to informational privacy. 37

Therefore, a Facebook user who opts to make use of a privacy tool to

grant or deny access to his or her post or profile detail should not be denied the
informational privacy right which necessarily accompanies said choice. 38
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Otherwise, using these privacy tools would be a feckless exercise, such that if,
for instance, a user uploads a photo or any personal information to his or her
Facebook page and sets its privacy level at "Only Me" or a custom list so that
only the user or a chosen few can view it, said photo would still be deemed
public by the courts as if the user never chose to limit the photo's visibility and
accessibility. Such position, if adopted, will not only strip these privacy tools of
their function but it would also disregard the very intention of the user to keep
said photo or information within the confines of his or her private space.

We must now determine the extent that the images in question were
visible to other Facebook users and whether the disclosure was confidential in
nature. In other words, did the minors limit the disclosure of the photos such
that the images were kept within their zones of privacy? This determination is
necessary in resolving the issue of whether the minors carved out a zone of
privacy when the photos were uploaded to Facebook so that the images will be
protected against unauthorized access and disclosure.

Petitioners, in support of their thesis about their children's privacy right

being violated, insist that Escudero intruded upon their children's Facebook
accounts, downloaded copies of the pictures and showed said photos to Tigol.
To them, this was a breach of the minors' privacy since their Facebook
accounts, allegedly, were under "very private" or "Only Friends" setting
safeguarded with a password. 39 Ultimately, they posit that their children's
disclosure was only limited since their profiles were not open to public viewing.
Therefore, according to them, people who are not their Facebook friends,
including respondents, are barred from accessing said post without their
knowledge and consent. As petitioner's children testified, it was Angela who
uploaded the subject photos which were only viewable by the five of them, 40
although who these five are do not appear on the records.
Escudero, on the other hand, stated in her affidavit 41 that "my students
showed me some pictures of girls clad in brassieres. This student [sic] of mine
informed me that these are senior high school [students] of STC, who are their
friends in [F]acebook. . . . They then said [that] there are still many other
photos posted on the Facebook accounts of these girls. At the computer lab,
these students then logged into their Facebook account [sic], and accessed
from there the various photographs . . . . They even told me that there had
been times when these photos were 'public' i.e., not confined to their friends in
Facebook."
In this regard, We cannot give much weight to the minors' testimonies for
one key reason: failure to question the students' act of showing the photos to
Tigol disproves their allegation that the photos were viewable only by the five
of them. Without any evidence to corroborate their statement that the images
were visible only to the five of them, and without their challenging Escudero's
claim that the other students were able to view the photos, their statements
are, at best, self-serving, thus deserving scant consideration. 42

It is well to note that not one of petitioners disputed Escudero's sworn

account that her students, who are the minors' Facebook "friends," showed her
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the photos using their own Facebook accounts. This only goes to show that no
special means to be able to view the allegedly private posts were ever resorted
to by Escudero's students, 43 and that it is reasonable to assume, therefore,
that the photos were, in reality, viewable either by (1) their Facebook friends, or
(2) by the public at large.
Considering that the default setting for Facebook posts is "Public," it can
be surmised that the photographs in question were viewable to everyone on
Facebook, absent any proof that petitioners' children positively limited the
disclosure of the photograph. If such were the case, they cannot invoke the
protection attached to the right to informational privacy. The ensuing
pronouncement in US v. Gines-Perez 44 is most instructive: DEAaIS

[A] person who places a photograph on the Internet precisely

intends to forsake and renounce all privacy rights to such imagery,
particularly under circumstances such as here, where the Defendant
did not employ protective measures or devices that would have
controlled access to the Web page or the photograph itself. 45

Also, United States v. Maxwell 46 held that "[t]he more open the method
of transmission is, the less privacy one can reasonably expect. Messages sent
to the public at large in the chat room or e-mail that is forwarded from
correspondent to correspondent loses any semblance of privacy."
That the photos are viewable by "friends only" does not necessarily
bolster the petitioners' contention. In this regard, the cyber community is
agreed that the digital images under this setting still remain to be outside the
confines of the zones of privacy in view of the following:
(1) Facebook "allows the world to be more open and connected by
giving its users the tools to interact and share in any
conceivable way;" 47

(2) A good number of Facebook users "befriend" other users who

are total strangers; 48
(3) The sheer number of "Friends" one user has, usually by the
hundreds; and

(4) A user's Facebook friend can "share" 49 the former's post, or

"tag" 50 others who are not Facebook friends with the former,
despite its being visible only to his or her own Facebook
friends.
It is well to emphasize at this point that setting a post's or profile detail's
privacy to "Friends" is no assurance that it can no longer be viewed by another
user who is not Facebook friends with the source of the content. The user's own
Facebook friend can share said content or tag his or her own Facebook friend
thereto, regardless of whether the user tagged by the latter is Facebook friends
or not with the former. Also, when the post is shared or when a person is
tagged, the respective Facebook friends of the person who shared the post or
who was tagged can view the post, the privacy setting of which was set at
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"Friends."
To illustrate, suppose A has 100 Facebook friends and B has 200. A and B
are not Facebook friends. If C, A's Facebook friend, tags B in A's post, which is
set at "Friends," the initial audience of 100 (A's own Facebook friends) is
dramatically increased to 300 (A's 100 friends plus B's 200 friends or the
public, depending upon B's privacy setting). As a result, the audience who can
view the post is effectively expanded — and to a very large extent.
This, along with its other features and uses, is confirmation of Facebook's
proclivity towards user interaction and socialization rather than seclusion or
privacy, as it encourages broadcasting of individual user posts. In fact, it has
been said that OSNs have facilitated their users' self-tribute, thereby resulting
into the "democratization of fame." 51 Thus, it is suggested, that a profile, or
even a post, with visibility set at "Friends Only" cannot easily, more so
automatically, be said to be "very private," contrary to petitioners' argument.

As applied, even assuming that the photos in issue are visible only to the
sanctioned students' Facebook friends, respondent STC can hardly be taken to
task for the perceived privacy invasion since it was the minors' Facebook
friends who showed the pictures to Tigol. Respondents were mere recipients of
what were posted. They did not resort to any unlawful means of gathering the
information as it was voluntarily given to them by persons who had legitimate
access to the said posts. Clearly, the fault, if any, lies with the friends of the
minors. Curiously enough, however, neither the minors nor their parents
imputed any violation of privacy against the students who showed the images
to Escudero.
Furthermore, petitioners failed to prove their contention that respondents
reproduced and broadcasted the photographs. In fact, what petitioners
attributed to respondents as an act of offensive disclosure was no more than
the actuality that respondents appended said photographs in their
memorandum submitted to the trial court in connection with Civil Case No.
CEB-38594. 52 These are not tantamount to a violation of the minor's
informational privacy rights, contrary to petitioners' assertion.
In sum, there can be no quibbling that the images in question, or to be
more precise, the photos of minor students scantily clad, are personal in
nature, likely to affect, if indiscriminately circulated, the reputation of the
minors enrolled in a conservative institution. However, the records are bereft of
any evidence, other than bare assertions that they utilized Facebook's privacy
settings to make the photos visible only to them or to a select few. Without
proof that they placed the photographs subject of this case within the ambit of
their protected zone of privacy, they cannot now insist that they have an
expectation of privacy with respect to the photographs in question.

Had it been proved that the access to the pictures posted were limited to
the original uploader, through the "Me Only" privacy setting, or that the user's
contact list has been screened to limit access to a select few, through the
"Custom" setting, the result may have been different, for in such instances, the
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intention to limit access to the particular post, instead of being broadcasted to
the public at large or all the user's friends en masse, becomes more manifest
and palpable.

On Cyber Responsibility
It has been said that "the best filter is the one between your
children's ears." 53 This means that self-regulation on the part of OSN users
and internet consumers in general is the best means of avoiding privacy rights
violations. 54 As a cyberspace community member, one has to be proactive in
protecting his or her own privacy. 55 It is in this regard that many OSN users,
especially minors, fail. Responsible social networking or observance of the
"netiquettes" 56 on the part of teenagers has been the concern of many due to
the widespread notion that teenagers can sometimes go too far since they
generally lack the people skills or general wisdom to conduct themselves
sensibly in a public forum. 57

Respondent STC is clearly aware of this and incorporating lessons on good

cyber citizenship in its curriculum to educate its students on proper online
conduct may be most timely. Too, it is not only STC but a number of schools
and organizations have already deemed it important to include digital literacy
and good cyber citizenship in their respective programs and curricula in view of
the risks that the children are exposed to every time they participate in online
activities. 58 Furthermore, considering the complexity of the cyber world and its
pervasiveness, as well as the dangers that these children are wittingly or
unwittingly exposed to in view of their unsupervised activities in cyberspace,
the participation of the parents in disciplining and educating their children
about being a good digital citizen is encouraged by these institutions and
organizations. In fact, it is believed that "to limit such risks, there's no
substitute for parental involvement and supervision." 59
As such, STC cannot be faulted for being steadfast in its duty of teaching
its students to be responsible in their dealings and activities in cyberspace,
particularly in OSNs, when it enforced the disciplinary actions specified in the
Student Handbook, absent a showing that, in the process, it violated the
students' rights.

OSN users should be aware of the risks that they expose themselves to
whenever they engage in cyberspace activities. Accordingly, they should be
cautious enough to control their privacy and to exercise sound discretion
regarding how much information about themselves they are willing to give up.
Internet consumers ought to be aware that, by entering or uploading any kind
of data or information online, they are automatically and inevitably making it
permanently available online, the perpetuation of which is outside the ambit of
their control. Furthermore, and more importantly, information, otherwise
private, voluntarily surrendered by them can be opened, read, or copied by
third parties who may or may not be allowed access to such.
It is, thus, incumbent upon internet users to exercise due diligence in their
online dealings and activities and must not be negligent in protecting their
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rights. Equity serves the vigilant. Demanding relief from the courts, as here,
requires that claimants themselves take utmost care in safeguarding a right
which they allege to have been violated. These are indispensable. We cannot
afford protection to persons if they themselves did nothing to place the matter
within the confines of their private zone. OSN users must be mindful enough to
learn the use of privacy tools, to use them if they desire to keep the information
private, and to keep track of changes in the available privacy settings, such as
those of Facebook, especially because Facebook is notorious for changing these
settings and the site's layout often.
In finding that respondent STC and its officials did not violate the minors'
privacy rights, We find no cogent reason to disturb the findings and case
disposition of the court a quo.

In light of the foregoing, the Court need not belabor the other assigned
errors.
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the petition is hereby DENIED. The
Decision dated July 27, 2012 of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 14 in Cebu City
in SP. Proc. No. 19251-CEB is hereby AFFIRMED.

No pronouncement as to costs.
SO ORDERED.

Peralta, Villarama, Jr., Reyes and Jardeleza, JJ., concur.

Footnotes
1. Issued on January 22, 2008.

2. Penned by Presiding Judge Raphael B. Yrastorza, Sr.

3. Facebook is a "voluntary social network to which members subscribe and submit

information. . . . . It has created a worldwide forum enabling friends to share
information such as thoughts, links, and photographs, with one another." (H
v. W. , Case No. 12/10142, January 30, 2013, In the South Gauteng High
Court, Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa).

4. By using the "Friends Only" setting.

5. Using "Public" as their Privacy Setting.

6. ICM stands for the "Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary."
7. Entitled Dr. Armenia M. Tan, for and in behalf of her minor child v. St. Theresa's
College, High School Department, Sr. Celeste Ma. Purisima Pe, Mrs. Mussolini
S. Yap, Ms. Marnie D. Racaza, Ms. Kristine Rose Ligot (sic), and Ms. Edita
Josephine Yu.
8. Entitled Rhonda Ave S. Vivares, and Sps. Margarita and David Suzara v. St.
Theresa's College, Mylene Rheza T. Escudero, and John Does.
9. Rollo, p. 39.

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10. A.M. No. 08-1-16-SC, February 2, 2008 [Sec. 19. Appeal. — Any party may
appeal from the judgment or final order to the Supreme Court under Rule 45.
The appeal may raise questions of fact or law or both.].

11. Id., Sec. 1.

12. Gamboa v. Chan, G.R. No. 193636, July 24, 2012, 677 SCRA 385.

13. See Andres Guadamuz, Habeas Data and the European Data Protection
Directive, in THE JOURNAL OF INFORMATION, LAW AND TECHNOLOGY (JILT)
(2001), cited in former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno's speech, The Common
Right to Privacy (2008).
14. Gamboa v. Chan, supra note 12.

15. See Roxas v. Macapagal-Arroyo, G.R. No. 189155, September 7, 2010, 630
SCRA 211.
16. In Recasting Privacy Torts in a Spaceless World by Patricia Sanchez Abril, the
term used to refer to the physical space which poses a number of problems
in privacy torts that occur in Cyberspace — a spaceless world, is "spatial
linchpins." (Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, Vol. 21, Number 1 Fall
2007); See also Kizza, Joseph Migga, Ethical and Social Issues in the
Information Age, Third Edition, Springer-Verlag London Limited 2007, p. 303
— "The totality of cyberspace is in reality a borderless self-regulating and
decentralized mosaic of communities with a variety of cultural, political, and
religious agendas."

17. From Former Chief Justice Reynato Puno's speech, "The Writ of Habeas Data,"
delivered on 19 November 2007, at the UNESCO Policy Forum and
Organizational Meeting of the Information for all Program (IFAP), Philippine
National Committee, citing Enrique Falcon, Habeas Data: Concepto y
Procedimiento 23 (1996).

18. Committee on the Revision of the Rules of Court, A.M. No. 08-1-16-SC, Rule on
the Writ of Habeas Data (2008).
19. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/engage. Last accessed February
13, 2013.

20. Delivered before the Forum on The Writ of Habeas Data and Human Rights,
sponsored by the National Union of Peoples' Lawyers on March 12, 2008 at
the Innotech Seminar Hall, Commonwealth Ave., Quezon City.
(http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/speech/03-12-08-speech.pdf. Last Accessed,
January 24, 2013).

21. Refers to the privacy that is felt in physical space, such as that which may be
violated by trespass and unwarranted search and seizure. Id.
22. Usually defined as the right of individuals to make certain kinds of fundamental
choices with respect to their personal and reproductive autonomy. Id.

23. Id.
24. Romano v. Steelcase, Inc. and Educational & Institutional Services, Inc.,
Supreme Court of New York, Suffolk County, 30 Misc. 3d 426; 907 N.Y.S.2d
650; 2010 N.Y. Misc. Lexis 4538; 2010 NY Slip Op 20388, September 21,
2010, Decided. See also Kizza, Joseph Migga, Ethical and Social Issues in the
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Information Age, Third Edition, Springer-Verlag London Limited 2007, p. 109,
"However, these days in the information age, the value of privacy has been
eroded. We can no longer guarantee our privacy. It has left many wondering
whether there is such a thing as privacy any more. . . . No one has
guaranteed privacy any more unless such an individual is no longer part of
the society." Page 304 reads, "According to recent studies, personal privacy
is becoming the number-one social and ethical issue of concern for the
information age. Advances in technology have brought with them gadgetry
that have diminished individual private spaces through electronic
surveillance and monitoring, transmission, scanning, tapping, and fast and
more efficient means of collecting, categorizing, and sorting data."
25. Puno, The Common Right to Privacy, supra note 20.

26. Supra note 3. Penned by Judge N. P. Willis.

27. Including but not limited to the following: name, residence, email address,
telephone or cellular phone number, personal pictures, relationship status,
date of birth, current location, relatives, hobbies and interests, employment,
profession, educational background, preferences, thoughts, messages,
conversations, internet memes, videos (ranging from personal videos to
scene extracts from movies, television shows, news, et cetera), photos,
religious messages, political views, updates, commentaries and reactions to
current events, support and prayer petitions, as well as products and
services.

28. http://newsroom.fb.com/Key-Facts. Last accessed January 24, 2013.

29. H v. W, supra note 3.

30. Id.

31. A user's profile contains basic information about the account owner, i.e. Profile
Picture, Full name, Birthdate, Address, Place of Work, Profession, a list of the
user's "Facebook Friends," among others. It is akin to an Identification Card.

32. Supra note 3.

33. Id.

34. Westin, Alan, Privacy and Freedom, cited in Valerie Steeves' work, Reclaiming
the Social Value of Privacy.
35. Newell, Bryce Clayton, Rethinking Reasonable Expectations of Privacy in Online
Social Networks, Richmond Journal of Law and Technology Vol. XVII, Issue 4,
2011, citing Avner Levin and Patricia Sanchez Abril, Two Notions of Privacy
Online, 11 V AND.J. ENT. & TECH. L. 1001, 1012 (2009)
(http://jolt.richmond.edu/v17i4/article12.pdf. Last accessed January 31, 2013)

36. It has been suggested that: focus on the individual's control over information
allows him to decide for himself what measure of privacy to grant certain
topics. It can also relieve the burden of determining responsibility for certain
perceived privacy breaches. For example, it is clear that the online socializer
who posts embarrassing pictures of himself publicly and without heightened
privacy settings is a victim of his own reckless behavior. By publicizing
embarrassing information, he voluntary relinquished control — and a legally
recognizable privacy right — over it. (Avner Levin and Patricia Sanchez Abril,
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Two Notions of Privacy Online, 11 V AND.J. ENT. & TECH. L. 1001, 1012
[2009])

37. In the same vein that "a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy in e-
mail messages stored in computers that he alone could retrieve through use
of his own assigned password. An objective expectation of privacy exists with
regard to e-mail messages that a person transmits electronically to other
subscribers of the same Internet service who have individually assigned
passwords." (United States v. Maxwell, 42 M.J. 568 (A.F.C.C.A. 1995), 45 M.J.
406 [C.A.A.F. 1996])
38. Romano v. Steelcase, Inc., Supreme Court of New York, Suffolk County, 30 Misc.
3d 426; 907 N.Y.S. 2d 650; 2010 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 4538; 2010 NY Slip Op
20388, September 21, 2010.

39. Rollo , p. 54.

40. TSN, July 19, 2012, pp. 32-34; 37.

41. Rollo , p. 134.

42. People v. Dolorido, G.R. No. 191721, January 12, 2011, 639 SCRA 496.
43. Since the students merely viewed the photographs using their own accounts
which are linked to the profiles of the minors, they being Facebook friends.

44. 214 F. Supp. 2d at 225.

45. Furthermore, "[a] person who places information on the information
superhighway clearly subjects said information to being accessed by every
conceivable interested party. Simply expressed, if privacy is sought, then
public communication mediums such as the Internet are not adequate
forums without protective measures." Id.
46. 45 M.J. 406 [C.A.A.F. 199]

47. McCarthy, Watson and Weldon-Siviy, Own Your Space: A Guide to Facebook
Security.
48. McCarthy, Caroline, Facebook users pretty willing to add strangers as 'friends'
(2007) http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-9759401-36.html;
https://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/facebook-you-should-only-friend-people-
you-know-no-seriously-were-not-kidding-081911;
http://blog.kaspersky.com/dont-be-facebook-friends-with-strangers/. Last
accessed February 1, 2013.
49. Sharing allows a user to post content from another page or user, to his or her
own page or to another user's page.

50. A tag is a special kind of link. When you tag someone, you create a link to their
timeline. The post you tag the person in may also be added to that person's
timeline. For example, you can tag a photo to show who's in the photo or
post a status update and say who you're with. If you tag a friend in your
status update, anyone who sees that update can click on your friend's name
and go to their timeline. Your status update may also show up on that
friend's timeline. (From Facebook's Help Center, http://www.facebook.com/.
Last accessed April 23, 2013)

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51. From Patricia Sanchez Abril's Recasting Privacy Torts in a Spaceless World,
supra note 16, citing Lakshmi Chaudhry, Mirror Mirror on the Web, The
Nation, January 29, 2007.

52. Rollo, pp. 41-42.

53. Parry Aftab of WiredSafety.org.

54. Kizza, Joseph Migga, Ethical and Social Issues in the Information Age, Third
Edition, Springer-Verlag London Limited 2007, p. 117.

55. Id. at 306.

56. Netiquette is the social code of network communication; it is the social and
moral code of the internet based on the human condition and the Golden
Rule of Netiquette; it is a philosophy of effective internet communication that
utilizes common conventions and norms as a guide for rules and standards.
http://www.networketiquette.net/. Last accessed, February 18, 2013.
57. Technology Trend: Responsible Social Networking for Teens,
http://www1.cyfernet.org/tech/06-08-TeenUseSM.html. Last Accessed,
February 18, 2013.

58. Kizza, Joseph Migga, supra note 54, at 341: "Perhaps one of the most
successful forms of deterrence has been self-regulation. A number of
organizations have formed to advocate parents and teachers to find a way to
regulate objectionable material from reaching our children. Also, families and
individuals, sometimes based on their morals and sometimes based on their
religion, have made self-regulation a cornerstone of their efforts to stop the
growing rate of online crimes."
59. Children's Safety on the Internet, Privacy Rights Clearing House, available at
https://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs21a-childrensafety.htm#1. Last Accessed,
February 18, 2013.

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