SBN - 2666

Voyeurs Beware! SBN-2666 known as the Anti-video voyeurism act authored by Sen. Miriam Santigao penalizing Photo and Video voyeurism pending approval in the Philippine Senate:

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The advances in technology have brought about many comforts in our everyday activities. However, some unscrupulous individuals have misused these technological advances to the detriment of their unsuspecting victims. An example of such misuse is photo and video
voyeurism.

Photo and video voyeurism is the act of capturing an image of a private area of an individual without their consent, and knowingly doing it under circumstances in which the individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy. With the proliferation of camera phones, webcams, PDAs and a host of other miniature lenses, some individuals have become victims of photo and video voyeurs.

In the U.S., “cyber peeking” is often focused on fetish photographs taken from cameras mounted on shoe tops, labels and hats. In addition, U.S. law enforcement authorities report a steady increase of hidden cameras in bedrooms, bathrooms, public showers, locker rooms and tanning salons. From there, millions of photographs and video hit the Internet. While the situation is not that bad in the Philippines, there are several instances when individuals, mostly women, become the victims of “high-tech” voyeurism.

For the victim, it is obviously very embarrassing and degrading to be photographed in a compromised position. It is a form of invasion of personal privacy. Since it is the duty of the state to guarantee the right of its citizens to privacy, this bill is aimed at fulfilling such duty.

(Sgd):
Miriam Defensor-Santiago

Should this be made into law, an offender shall be punished by imprisonment of not less than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years or a fine or not less than ten thousand pesos (P10,OOO) nor more that fifty thousand pesos (P50,OOO) or both at the discretion of the Court.

Source: Senate of the Philippines website

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