Data privacy concerns raised after Davao Oriental resort calls out guests online

A room being offered at Jakka Beach Resort in Davao Oriental (Facebook/Jakka Beach Resort)

A private resort called out guests who did not clean up before leaving their booked rooms, triggering discussions on privacy.

Jakka Beach Resort, a private beach resort in Davao Oriental, last November 6 called out two vloggers for seemingly leaving the rooms that they stayed in in “chaos.”

In the post, the resort management said that vloggers “K’Nayn Motovlog” and “Pobreng Laagan” stayed at the resort’s Family Villa.

After they checked out, however, the management expressed dismay as they allegedly left the villa in utter disarray.

Jakka also posted photos of what their rooms look like upon inspection.

“We are very saddened that we need to experience this kind of chaos in our Family Villa (pictures posted),” the statement reads.

“We need you and we serve you the best that you need K’Nayn Motovlog and Pobreng Laagan. We considered your plead and attend to all your concerns, yet this is what you did to our Villa so what else can we say, but THANK YOU. We are hoping that you will not do the same to your future destinations,” it added.

The photos showed dirty plates, unkempt beds, empty bottles and other litter in different parts of the villa.

The post soon earned some buzz on the platform. It has since garnered 51,000 reactions, 8,000 comments and 47,000 shares so far.

The management, however, received mixed cheers and jeers for calling out the vloggers.

Some Filipinos agree with its sentiments about respecting the establishment’s policy on cleanliness.

“Whether it’s a simple place or the most expensive hotel, dapat naay consideration for the property owners,” a Facebook user said.

Other users, meanwhile, slammed the resort for alleged violations of the guests’ privacy.

Jakka later released another statement to address these concerns on Monday, November 7.

“We sincerely apologized to the public that this matter has escalated. It is not our intention to publicly shame or embarrass the guests of our resort by tagging them in our post. The only reason that we posted the unsightly pictures of the resort is for public awareness,” it said.

Jakka added that the management and the vloggers have already settled the matter privately.

Privacy of guests should be protected

Many commenters pointed out the privacy violations that Jakka committed against the vloggers.

“This is alarming since private institutions should implement PRIVACY POLICY of their guests. You DO NOT DIVULGE your guests’ information without their consent,” one Facebook user said.

“As someone who works in the hotel industry for several years here in the western part of the world, the first mistake in this post is tagging the guests. Guest privacy is of utmost importance,” another said.

Unauthorized disclosure of a data subject’s personal information is one of the prohibited acts under the Data Privacy Act of 2012.

In Section 12 of the law, it was stated that the processing of personal information can only be considered lawful if it has the consent of the data subject.

Those who disclose personal information without consent could face the punishment of imprisonment of up to three years and a fine that reaches P1 million, as stated in section 32 of the law.

Response of K’Nayn Motovlog and Pobreng Laagan

Pobreng Laagan was the one who issued their response to Jakka on November 6.

Laagan likewise slammed the management for disclosing their personal information to the public.

“To the resort, I understand you want to post it for AWARENESS, but that became overboard after tagging us and disclosing your guest information. WHICH YOU SHOUDN’T,” she said.

Laagan ended her post by thanking her and K’Nayn Motovlog’s followers for still standing up for them amid the controversy.

 

Show comments