New writ protecting right to privacy now in effect

MANILA, Philippines – The writ of habeas data, which seeks to give protection to any person whose right to privacy in life, liberty or security is being threatened by an unlawful act of a public official or a private individual engaged in the gathering of data, took effect yesterday.

This, after the Supreme Court, in a resolution amended the Rules of Court to include the rule on the writ of habeas data.

The literal translation from Latin of habeas data is “you should have the data.” Habeas data is a Constitutional right granted in several countries in Latin-America. Although it shows variations from country to country, in general, it is designed to protect, by means of an individual complaint presented to a court, the image, privacy, honor, information, self-determination and freedom of information of a person.

Habeas data can be brought up by any citizen against any manual or automated data register to find out what information is held about his or her person. That person can then request the rectification or even the destruction of the personal data being held.

Chief Justice Reynato Puno told reporters that the new rule is merely a stop-gap measure in anticipation of broader legislation to protect privacy rights and is meant, among other things, to stop the collection of erroneous data on individuals.

Puno said the writ of habeas data is an effective tool to protect human rights, especially in countries that are recovering from military dictatorships.

He pointed out that the writ is crucial in cases of political disappearances, which frequently imply secret executions of detainees without trial, followed by the concealment of the bodies for the purpose of erasing material traces of the crime.

“This writ entitles the families of (the) disappeared persons to know the totality of circumstances surrounding the fates of their relatives and imposes an obligation of investigation on the part of the governments,” he said.

The rule on the writ of habeas data states that it is a remedy available to any person whose right to privacy is violated or threatened by an unlawful act or omission by a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity engaged in the gathering, collecting or storing of data or information on his person, family, home, and correspondence.

Any aggrieved party may file a petition for the writ. But in cases of extrajudicial killings and disappearances, the petition may be filed by any member of the immediate family of the aggrieved person or collateral relative within the fourth civil degree.

The petition may be filed before regional trial courts where the petitioner or respondent resides, or that which has jurisdiction over the place where the data or information is gathered, collected or stored, at the option of the petitioner.

It may also be filed with the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, or Sandiganbayan when the action concerns public data files of government offices.

On the filing of the petition, the court, justice or judge shall immediately order the issuance of the writ. It must be served to the respondent within three days from its issuance.

Puno said that the writ of habeas data can be availed of as an independent remedy to protect one’s right to privacy significantly to protect informational privacy or the writ can complement the writ of amparo and the writ of habeas corpus.

Also, he noted that these extrajudicial countries are also happening in other countries prompting them to have their own “data protection laws” to protect their citizens’ rights to privacies.

These governments even created their own government agencies to exclusively oversee the protection of these rights, Puno added.  “We crafted our own writ, we customize it to respond to our own intermediate needs,” he said. – Mike Frialde