Dear Atty. Maan,

I recently found out that my husband is cheating on me. I discovered the affair when I logged into his Facebook Messenger account, of which I knew the password.

My question is, can I use the screenshots of messages containing his illicit affair if I decide to file an appropriate legal action against him?

Anna

Dear Anna,

Generally, the admissibility of a voice recording as the Supreme Court, in a recently-decided, case ruled that photos and messages obtained by private individuals from a Facebook messenger account are admissible as evidence in court.

In the case of Cadajas y Cabias v People, G.R. 247348, [16 November 2021], one of the arguments raised by the petitioner before this Court concerns the admissibility of the evidence presented by the prosecution, which was taken from his Facebook messenger account.

He claims that the photos presented in evidence during the trial of the case were taken from his Facebook messenger account. According to him, this amounted to a violation of his right to privacy, and therefore, any evidence obtained in violation thereof amounts to the fruit of the poisonous tree.

The Supreme Court did not agree with the Petitioner’s contention and ruled to wit:

“In this case, the photographs and conversations in the Facebook Messenger account that were obtained and used as evidence against petitioner, which he considers as the fruit of the poisonous tree, were not obtained through the efforts of the police officers or any agent of the State. Rather, these were obtained by a private individual. Indeed, they must affect only those pieces of evidence obtained by the State through its agents. It is these individuals who can flex government muscles and use government resources for possible abuse. However, where private individuals are involved, for which their relationship is governed by the admissibility of evidence cannot be determined by the provisions of the Bill of Rights.”

Be that as it may, it cannot be said that the petitioner’s right to privacy was violated. Here, petitioner’s expectation of privacy emanates from the fact that his Facebook Messenger account is password protected, such that no one can access the same except himself. Petitioner never asserted that his Facebook Messenger account was hacked or the photos were taken from his account through unauthorized means. Rather, the photos were obtained from his account because AAA, to whom he gave his password, had access to it. Considering that he voluntarily gave his password to AAA, he, in effect, has authorized AAA to access the same. He did not even take steps to exclude AAA from gaining access to his account. Having been given authority to access his Facebook Messenger account, petitioner’s reasonable expectation of privacy, in so far as AAA is concerned, had been limited. Thus, there is no violation of privacy to speak of.”

Hope this helps.

Atty. Mary Antonnette Baudi