Ople v.

Torres
G.R. No. 127685, July 23, 1998
Puno, J.

FACTS: The Petition at bar is a commendable effort on the part of Senator Blas F. Ople, to prevent the
shrinking of the right to privacy. Petitioner Ople prays that the Court invalidate Administrative Order No.
308 entitled “Adoption of a National Computerized Identification Reference System on two important
constitutional grounds. It is a usurpation of power of Congress to legislate and it impermissibly intrude on
our citizenry’s protected zone of privacy. A.O. No. 308 was issued by President Fidel V. Ramos on
December 12, 1996. Petitioner filed the instant petition against respondent then Executive Secretary Ruben
Torres, who as a member of the Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee, is charged with the implementation
of A.O. No. 308

ISSUE: Whether Administrative Order No. 308 violates the constitutionally mandated right to privacy

HELD: Yes, Assuming, arguendo, that A.O. No. 308 need not be subject of a law, still it cannot pass
constitutional muster as an administrative legislation because facially it violates the right to privacy, The
essence of privacy is the right to be let alone. The right to privacy is recognized and enshrined in several
provisions of the Constitution. Zones of privacy are likewise recognized and protected in our laws. Unlike
the dissenters, this Court prescind the premise that the right ato privacy is a fundamental right guaranteed
by the Constitution, hence, the burden of government to show that A. O. No. 308 is justified by some
compelling state interest and that it is narrowly drawn. The order is predicated on two considerations (1)
the need to provide our citizens and foreigners with the facility to conveniently transact business with basic
service and social security providers and other government instrumentalities, and (2) the need to reduce,
fraudulent transactions and misrepresentation by person seeking basic services. It is debatable whether there
interest are compelling enough to warrant the issuance of A.O. No. 308 But what is not arguable is the
broadness, the vagueness, the over breath of A.O. 308. Though A.O. No. 308 is undoubtedly narrowly
undrawn, the dissenting opinions would dismiss its danger to the right of privacy as speculative and
hypothetical. This Court rejected the argument of the Solicitor-General that an individual has a reasonable
expectation of privacy the reasonableness depends on two-part test.
(1) Whether by his conduct, the individual has exhibited an expectation of privacy
(2) Whether this expectation is one that society recognizes as reasonable
However, other factors such as customs, physical surroundings and practices of a particular activity, may
serve to create or diminish this expectation. The use of biometrics and computer technology in A.O. 308
does not assure the individual of a reasonable expectation of privacy. As technology advances, the level of
reasonably expected privacy decreases. The measure of protection granted by the reasonable expectation
diminishes as relevant technology becomes more widely accepted. The security of the computer data file
depends not oly on the physical inaccessibility of the file but also on the advances in hardware and software
computer technoly. A.O. No. 308 is so widely drawn that a minimum standard for a reasonable expectation
of privacy, regardless of technology used, cannot be inferred from its provisions.