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Friday, May 25, 2012

Right to privacy? Is it a joke?

Lately, there were issues regarding employers accessing the social networks of their potential employees which have been continuously receiving a lot of negative comments. Can companies/institutions/employers use internet search tools and access to social media accounts in determining the most suitable candidate?

First and foremost, I sincerely believe that in this kind of scenario, the right to privacy of these people will be violated. What is "Right to Privacy"? As discussed by the Supreme Court in the case of Social Justice Society vs. Dangerous Drugs Board and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (GR No. 157870), "the essence of privacy is the right to be left alone. In context, the right to privacy means the right to be free from unwarranted exploitation of one's person or from intrusion into one's private activities in such a way as to cause humiliation to a person's ordinary sensibilities". Moreover, I believe that there is no just and valid reason to access the person's social media accounts in this case simply because it is not connected with the nature of employment of that particular person. Secondly, such access can never define if the person is qualified or not, neither will those posts make him/her less of a person. Besides, that is part of his/her personal life and it is very different from professionalism. If this scenario will be practiced in most of the companies in this country, then there's a big chance that a person's freedom of expression will be abridged simply because of the fear that when s/he post something, it may be the reason why s/he will not qualify in a certain position. Furthermore, there will be discrimination in this case because there can be an instance where an employer will not hire a person simply because of the posts that s/he made. Isn't it discrimination?

In my opinion, access to social media accounts can be justified if public interest or national security requires it. But accessing it for employment purposes? I guess that's a No-No. We shall always remember that there are constitutional rights of a person that must be taken into consideration and these are supreme rights protected by the Constitution. Right to privacy is not a joke. We all know that there are no laws that should prevail over the Constitution unless it is for public interest. Hence, access to social model accounts in determining the most suitable candidate might lead to a violation of a person's right to privacy.

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