ETHICS FOR I.T.

PROFESSIONALS
WITH LEGAL ASPECTS IN COMPUTING

Chapter 3
Privacy
 The Right of
Privacy

Definition

“The right to be left alone—the most

comprehensive of rights, and the right most
valued by a free people”
“The right of individuals to control the collection
and use of information about themselves”
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 Another Concept of Privacy
 Information Privacy
coined by Roger Clarke,
director of the Australian
Privacy Foundation.

Information privacy is the combination of

communications privacy

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 Cont.,,
data privacy the ability to
limit access to one’s
personal data by other
individuals and
organizations in order to
exercise a substantial
degree of control over the
data and its use.

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Constitutional provision on privacy
• The word “PRIVACY” was only mentioned
once in 1987 Philippine Constitution, thus
– The privacy of communication and
correspondence shall be inviolable except upon
lawful order of the court, or when public safety or
order requires otherwise as prescribed by law.
– Any evidence obtained in violation of this or the
preceding section shall

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 Constitutional provision on privacy
Cont.,
• B. Public Order or Safety Requirement
– This provision is best explained without regard to
technology.

• C. Express Provision of the Law

– There are so many laws which provide an express
provision requiring surrender of one’s privacy.

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 The rational relationship test
• The Supreme Court will first determine if the
policy has a “reasonable purpose”
• R.A. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt
Practices Act, as a valid police power
measure. It declared that the law, in
compelling a public officer to make an annual
report disclosing his assets and liabilities, his
sources of income and expense, did not
infringe on the individual’s right to privacy.

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Reasonable expectation of privacy
• Salient feature of RA 4200 otherwise known
as the Anti-Wiretapping Act.
– This law, like the Anti-Money Laundering Act is an
example of a law which allows to some extent that
the privacy of individuals may be invaded,
provided that some requirements are complied
with

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 Financial Data
• Individuals must reveal much of their
personal financial data in order to take
advantage of the wide range of financial
products and services available, including
credit cards, checking and savings accounts,
loans payroll direct deposit and brokerage
accounts

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 Fair Credit Reporting Act (1970)
Regulates the operation of credit-reporting,
including how they collect, store and use
credit information.
The act outlines who
may access your credit information
how you can find out what is in your file
how to dispute inaccurate data
how long data is retained and so on

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 Privacy rights of convicted/detained
person
• The right to privacy of those detained is
subject to Sec.4 of RA 7438, as well as to the
limitations inherent in lawful detention or
imprisonment.

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 Identity Theft
 Occurs when someone steals key pieces of personal
information to gain access to a person’s financial
accounts/ impersonate a person
 Information includes:
 Name
 Address
 Date of birth
 Social Security number
 Passport number
 Driver’s license number
 Mother’s maiden name

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 Due process
• Due process of law which hears before it
condemns; which proceeds upon inquiry, and
renders judgement only after the trial.

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 Children’s Personal Data
• Internet use by children continues to climb; a
recent report out of the United Kingdom
found that teenagers spend an average of 31
hours per week online.

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 Children’s Online Privacy Protection
Act (COPPA) (1998)
any web site that caters to
children must offer
comprehensive privacy
policies, notify parents or
guardians about its data
collection practices and
receive parental consent
before collecting any personal
information from children
under 13 years of age.
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 Access to Government Records
• Has a great capacity to store data about each
and every one of us and about the
proceedings of its various organizations.

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 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
(1966, amended 1974)
• Passed in 1966 and amended in 1974, grants
citizens the right to access certain information
and records of the federal government upon
request.

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 Data Breaches

An alarming number of
identity theft incidents
involve breaches of large
databases to gain
personal identity
Information.

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 Purchase of Personal Data
There is a black market in personal data. A full
set
of identity information including
- date of birth
- address
- social security number
- telephone number

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 Workplace
Monitoring
• Many organizations have
developed a policy on the use
of IT in the workplace in order
to protect against employee
abuses that reduce worker
productivity or expose the
employer to harassment
lawsuits.

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Advance Surveillance Technology

- Camera Surveillance – detects

unusual behavior, it alerts
authorities so that they can take
pre emptive action.

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 End !!!
Reference:
* Ethics for I.T. Professionals by Lavinia, C. et.al.
* Ethics in Information Technology by Reynolds

Chapter 3: Privacy

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