SC can’t share Bar candidates’ personal data with law schools —Gesmundo

Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo on Wednesday said the Supreme Court (SC) cannot divulge the personal information of Bar examination takers to law schools.

He issued the clarification following a decision that ruled that the examination scores of individual Bar takes are sensitive personal information under the Data Privacy Act and cannot be disclosed without prior consent of the examinees.

Gesmundo was asked if this means that the Bar results will no longer be announced and flashed on screen before the SC main building during the release of the results. 

“That resolution was specifically addressed because certain law schools would want to, I think to study, how they performed during the Bar exams. So they want data from us,” he said in a briefing at the SC building.

“Ang sabi namin [We said], we can give you the data but we cannot give you the details, personal details of the Bar candidates. That is the restriction. But other data we can share it with you,” he added.

The 2024 Bar Exam results will be released on Friday, December 13.

Gesmundo said the SC Bar applicants may still check whether they passed at the SC Main Building. 

“The announcement will be exactly the same as in the previous years. We’ll put up a wide screen at the quadrangle and the names will be scrolled there,” he said.

Meanwhile, the SC said that such requests from law schools must be signed by the dean or an equivalent official, and must state its legitimate purpose. — BM, GMA Integrated News