In 2012, five high school students of St. Theresa’s College (STC) were prohibited by the school administration from attending their graduation ceremonies for violating the school’s code of conduct.
School officials acquired photos of the students drinking, smoking and in their undergarments. These photos were downloaded from their Facebook accounts and were turned over to the school administrators.
The students and their parents protested, claiming that these photos were posted via the private settings of their Facebook accounts.
Parents of two of the students who objected to the school’s acquisition of the Facebook photos filed a petition for habeas data before the Supreme Court.
Habeas data is provided as a legal remedy for those whose privacy is violated or threatened by persons gathering information on their family, correspondence and so on.
After two years, the Supreme Court rejected the petition against St. Theresa’s College-Cebu.
While schools with a more liberal background may find nothing wrong with the uploaded photos, STC is a conservative Catholic institution and thus doesn’t take kindly to behavior it deems inappropriate for its students.
While it didn’t prevent the students from graduating, STC remained firm in its decision to bar the students from attending the commencement exercises, which for any student is a special occasion to be shared with family and friends.
How and where the school officials obtained the Facebook photos were not questioned by the Supreme Court as what the parents of the two students hoped for.
Rather, the High Tribunal reiterated that privacy isn’t guaranteed on Facebook even with its privacy settings. It had been reported that those who reported the photos to the school authorities had friends who were friends of the students.
Whether or not those who reported the photos had an agenda or held a grudge against the students is immaterial at this point. The damage has been done.
Regardless, the STC case is a reminder to students and even adults that there is no such thing as private on Facebook or the Internet in general.
Some would say that they can do whatever they want on their Facebook accounts. True. But there is such a thing as consequence.
The photos, status updates and even comments might hurt the sensibilities of others. As a result, relationships are strained. Some even exchange hurtful words online.
These posts can even get one in trouble with school or company officials.
So think before posting anything because as what the Supreme Court has said, nothing is ever private on Facebook.
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