As technological developments challenge traditional societal conceptions of privacy, the right to privacy has evolved from a physical, temporal right primarily tied to property rights, to becoming an independent right encompassing both persons and property. In recent years, privacy has once again been challenged by the rise of social media, which presents a whole new lacuna of considerations engendered by the novel, sui generis nature of the internet.
Case law and jurisprudence in the Philippines has yet to sufficiently address these issues, with leading cases on the subject formulating problematic standards for determining whether an internet user has exhibited a reasonable expectation of privacy online. This presents issues as to how social media posts can be exploited in a legal context, especially regarding their admission into evidence before trial courts. This presentation aims to shed light on the gaps created by the inadequate jurisprudential framework governing social media privacy in the Philippines, and the role forensics plays in potentially addressing the gaps involved.