Is It Illegal to Take Pictures or Videos of People in Public?

(SPOT.ph) Former COMELEC Commissioner Rowena Guanzon went viral over the weekend for a heated confrontation with a couple in a mall, recorded by someone who happened to witness the incident. Now facing backlash, Guanzon released a short video defending her actions, ending it with the claim that the person who recorded and uploaded the video had “violated her right to privacy,” which she insists is a “criminal offense.”

There’s a lot to unpack about the exchange—like why it even mattered whether the mall-goer owned a Rolex or Gucci—but at the center of the issue is a question as old as social media itself: is it legal to take a picture or video of someone else in public, then post it on the internet?

What does the National Privacy Commission (NPC), the agency that oversees how personal data is collected, shared, and used in the Philippines, have to say about this issue?

Also read: What Does Philippine Law Have to Say About Posting Screenshots?

Visibility in public isn’t the same as consenting to be recorded and posted. The NPC has been very clear on this in Advisory Opinion 2021-014: “A person’s data privacy rights do not cease even when one is in a public space.”

According to the NPC, uploading a picture or video of someone can count as personal data processing—even if it was taken in a public place—so long as the person can be recognized. If someone is identifiable, the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (DPA) starts to apply. This holds true even if the face is not clearly seen, as long as someone’s identity can be “reasonably and directly ascertained” from their face, voice, clothing, or the context of the footage.

That means obligations exist on the part of the recorder: informing people they’re being filmed, posting proper privacy notices, masking faces when needed, and being ready to take content down if someone featured in the video requests it.

A past case helps illustrate this. In NPC Advisory Opinion No. 2018-051, a person complained to the agency after being secretly photographed while dining in a restaurant. The photo was posted on social media with a mocking caption—and without consent.

Even though they were in public, the NPC said the act may be considered unauthorized processing of personal information. As mentioned earlier, the person in the picture or video may demand its blocking, removal, or destruction if it was unlawfully obtained or used for a purpose they never agreed to. Once a photo taken without consent is shared online, the DPA could apply—especially if identities are revealed or harm is caused. Violators can face imprisonment of one to three years and a fine of P500,000 to P2 million, depending on the offense. This penalty can go even higher if it involves sensitive personal information such as one's health, education, sexual life, among others.

Of course, not every public recording is automatically illegal. The NPC has previously clarified that recordings kept strictly for personal use may be exempt from the DPA.

Context matters, too: Was the person filmed engaged in newsworthy conduct? (Personal data processed for “journalistic, artistic, literary, or research purposes” falls under a special category where the DPA applies only to the “minimum extent necessary,” especially when the recording is made and shared as news or documentation.) Were they identifiable? Was the uploader acting maliciously? These are the kinds of questions that determine whether an act violates the DPA. The answers aren’t always straightforward.

Additionally, there’s Republic Act No. 4200 or the Anti-Wiretapping Law, which makes it illegal to record any private communication without the consent of all parties. As stated in Section 1: “It shall be unlawful for any person... to secretly overhear, intercept, or record such communication or spoken word by using a device.”

This brings us back to Guanzon. Whether the uploader actually violated the law depends on the circumstances—something only a formal investigation can answer. What’s clear so far is that under Philippine privacy law, the real issue is not so much about being in public but what is being posted online.

Also read: Using CC in Emails? Beware of Potential Privacy Violations, NPC Says