Dear PAO,

Recently, I learned that my colleague recorded our private conversation without my consent. Worse, she sent it to our Viber group with other few colleagues. I confronted her, but she just dismissed my sentiments. Can I hold her liable for her action? Mariel

Dear Mariel,

Republic Act 4200, known as the “Anti-Wiretapping Act,” provides for the following:

“Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any person, not being authorized by all the parties to any private communication or spoken word, to tap any wire or cable, or by using any other device or arrangement, to secretly overhear, intercept, or record such communication or spoken word by using a device commonly known as a dictaphone or dictagraph or dictaphone or walkie-talkie or tape recorder, or however otherwise described:

“It shall also be unlawful for any person, be he a participant or not in the act or acts penalized in the next preceding sentence, to knowingly possess any tape record, wire record, disc record, or any other such record, or copies thereof, of any communication or spoken word secured either before or after the effective date of this Act in the manner prohibited by this law; or to replay the same for any other person or persons; or to communicate the contents thereof, either verbally or in writing, or to furnish transcriptions thereof, whether complete or partial, to any other person: Provided, That the use of such record or any copies thereof as evidence in any civil, criminal investigation or trial of offenses mentioned in section 3 hereof, shall not be covered by this prohibition.

“Section 2. Any person who willfully or knowingly does or who shall aid, permit, or cause to be done any of the acts declared to be unlawful in the preceding section or who violates the provisions of the following section or of any order issued thereunder, or aids, permits, or causes such violation shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment for not less than six months or more than six years and with the accessory penalty of perpetual absolute disqualification from public office if the offender be a public official at the time of the commission of the offense, and, if the offender is an alien he shall be subject to deportation proceedings.” (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)

It is clear from the foregoing provision that both parties must give consent to the recording of their private conversation; otherwise, the same is illegal, and the person who made such recording may be subjected to the penalties provided under the aforesaid Act.

Accordingly, if your conversation with your colleague is a private communication, which essentially means that the conversations are meant to be made between one person and another as distinguished from conversations or words uttered between a speaker and a public, then your colleague may be held criminally liable for secretly recording your conversation, and sending the same to other people without your consent.

We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.