privacy workplace philippines
Can I take a picture of my company server room and post it on Facebook?
<p>Is there a law that prohibits the taking of photos of a company server room and posting it as a status in Facebook? Every component is exposed but... no software ID, usernames or passwords even IP addresses where taken. Or is it under company jurisdiction?</p>

<p>EDIT: Reason... Rule of Cool?</p>

<p>Location: South East Asia, Philippines.</p>

<p>The real question isn't whether there is a law, but whether you want to keep your job. If you want to do something that you believe will affect your company negatively, and you ask whether it's legal or not, the question alone should show you it's a bad idea. </p>

<p>And another question is whether you can be sued, and what it will cost you even if you can win a case, and the answers to that are "yes" and "a lot". </p>

<p>Read your employment contract. If you're in the IT sector, I'm sure it has stipulations about what kinds of information about the company - photos, location, employees, etc. - can be published in news sources or on social media. Even if it doesn't specifically prohibit doing what you want to do, your company can simply call your photos a security breach, and you could still be very quickly fired for it.</p>

<p><strong>Update 11/04/2018</strong></p>

<p>Read <a href="https://blr.dole.gov.ph/2014/12/11/termination-of-employment/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Termination of Employment | gov.ph Bureau of Labor Relations</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="2">
  <li>May an employer dismiss an employee? What are the grounds?</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>Yes. An employer may dismiss an employee on the following just causes:</p>
  
  <p>a) serious misconduct;</p>
  
  <p>b) willful disobedience;</p>
  
  <p>c) gross and habitual neglect of duty;</p>
  
  <p>d) fraud or breach of trust;</p>
  
  <p>e) commission of a crime or offense against the employer, his family
  or representative;</p>
  
  <p>f) other similar causes.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Can your actions of posting photos be construed to be any of the above? Have you been instructed - or is it in your contract - to not advertise your employment or break security protocols by posting photos of the office? Would it be "willful disobedience" or "breach of trust"?</p>

<p>And read <a href="https://lawyerphilippines.org/2018/06/21/termination-guide-regularized-employees-for-the-philippine-hr/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">2018 Guide to Terminating Regularized Employees - Lawyers in the Philippines - lawyerphilippines.org</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>You can terminate due to just cause when the employee is at fault.
  Just causes are listed in Article 282 of the Labor Code and reproduced
  below:</p>
  
  <p>• Serious misconduct or willful disobedience by the employee of the
  lawful orders of his employer or representative in connection with his
  work</p>
  
  <p>• Gross and habitual neglect by the employee of his duties</p>
  
  <p>• Fraud or willful breach by the employee of the trust reposed in him
  by his employer or duly authorized representative</p>
  
  <p>• Commission of a crime or offense by the employee against the person
  of his employer or any immediate member of his family or his duly
  authorized representatives and</p>
  
  <p>• Other causes analogous to the foregoing</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Can your actions of posting photos be construed to be any of the above?</p>

<p>Do you have money to hire a lawyer if fired? Do you feel like you can prove that your firing was wrongful? And that you have no liability for posting the photos?</p>

<p>The outcome of your actual situation is going to depend heavily on your local jurisdiction and the actual facts of your case (what you photograph, for what purpose you photograph it, who it is disseminated to, etc).  You could in theory break criminal law, for example <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1832" rel="nofollow noreferrer">18 U.S. Code § 1832</a> if the items photographed are considered trade secrets, or for example <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/798" rel="nofollow noreferrer">18 U.S. Code § 798</a> if the items photographed are part of a classified system.  Since you haven't specified, I'm just using the USC, but there are probably similar statutes in most countries, though they may or may not be criminal.  Even if you are not breaking any criminal law, you could still be causing actionable damage to your employer, actionable either through statute or your employment contract.</p>

<p>If you believe you have a good reason to post the pictures (hopefully more than just that you want to show your friends), you could contact a local attorney.  Some reasons which may be an adequate defense to a suit would be whistleblowing or journalistic purposes, but again it's heavily dependent on your local jurisdiction so you would want to talk to a lawyer beforehand.</p>
