Supreme Court penalizes FCash over data privacy breach

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January 1, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered a lending app operator to pay damages to a client after it accessed her contact list and sent messages about her outstanding loan. 

In a 16-page ruling, the SC reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) that set aside the National Privacy Commission (NPC)’s recommendation to charge FCash Global Lending Inc. with violation of the Data Privacy Act of 2012 and to pay damages to complainant Grace Trimillos.

Based on court records, Trimillos filed a complaint against FCash for allegedly accessing her phone’s contact list without her authority and informing everyone on the list regarding the status of her loan. 

She claimed FCash told her contact list, composed of colleagues and friends, that they were guarantors of her loan and would be forced to pay on her behalf if no payment was made.  

Trimillos submitted as evidence screenshots of the text messages allegedly sent by FCash. When mediation failed, NPC directed FCash to file a responsive comment, to no avail.

The NPC ruled that Trimillo’s right to privacy was violated after it found that FCash gathered personal information in excess of what was necessary and processed them for purposes other than those stated in their own privacy policy. ?It also found that the unauthorized processing of personal information was done with malice as the messages reveal FCash’s “unquestionable intention to shame Trimillos and jeopardize her reputation” until she settled her obligations.  

The NPC awarded P15,000 in nominal damages to Trimillos and forwarded the case to the Department of Justice, recommending prosecution of FCash for malicious disclosure and processing of sensitive personal information for unauthorized purposes. 

However, when the case reached the CA, the court set aside the NPC ruling, saying Trimillos failed to have the screenshots authenticated by any of her supposed witnesses, violating the Rules on Electronic Evidence.  

With this, the CA ruled there is no admissible evidence to support a finding in her favor.  

In ruling over the case, the SC said FCash failed to timely object to the admissibility of the screenshots, therefore the CA had no grounds to reverse the NPC decision on the basis of inadmissible evidence. ?It also said the CA erred in reviewing the admissibility of evidence, because FCash only raised it for the first time on appeal.

“Grounds for objections not raised at the proper time shall be considered waived. Thus, even on appeal, the CA may not consider any ground of objection, except those that were raised at the proper time,” the SC said. 

It said that despite Trimillos failing to comply with the rules of admissibility under Rules on Electronic Evidence, FCash is considered to have waived its objection.