SC: Bar takers’ scores can’t be revealed without consent

PRIVATE DATA The high court said that individual bar exam scores were sensitive personal information under the Data Privacy Act that could not be revealed without prior consent. —Inquirer file photo

MANILA, Philippines — Ahead of the announcement of this year’s bar exam results on Friday, the Supreme Court has released the guidelines on requests to release a law school’s performance in the test, which specifies that the scores of examinees will not be given without their consent.

Based on the guidelines made public on Monday, the high court said that bar exam scores of individual takers were “sensitive personal information under the Data Privacy Act,” which meant they would not be disclosed without prior consent.

The Supreme Court did not immediately respond to inquiries on how the new guidelines would affect the announcement of the top 10 examinees.

But it said it may approve requests from law schools for their bar exam scores, as long as these scores were aggregated, averaged, or anonymized and do not identify any individual examinee.

According to the high tribunal, permissible data includes the number or percentage of the law school’s graduates categorized by type (new examinees, previous takers, refreshers); the number or percentage of graduates within specific score ranges; the average score of all graduates in each bar subject; and the overall average general weighted average for law schools with multiple examinees.

In addition, anonymized scores of each bar taker, with all identifiers removed, may also be revealed.

“Requests from law schools must be signed by the dean or an equivalent official, and must state a legitimate purpose, such as reviewing and improving law degree programs and performance on future Bar exams,” the high court said.