FamilyCode.ph collects only the information reasonably needed to operate, secure, measure and improve the website. We do not sell personal information and we do not ask readers for details about their family situation.
This policy explains what may be processed when you visit FamilyCode.ph or contact us, the basis on which it is processed, and the rights you have under Republic Act No. 10173, the Data Privacy Act of 2012. It should be read together with our Legal Disclaimer.
Who Operates FamilyCode.ph
FamilyCode.ph is an independent, non-government Philippine family-law information platform created and managed by Anton Sheker and Marjo Villarosa. For the purposes of the Data Privacy Act, FamilyCode.ph acts as the personal information controller for information processed through this website, and can be reached through the Contact page.
Information You Provide Directly
If you email us, we receive whatever you choose to include — typically your name, email address, the page you are writing about and your message.
Family-law questions involve sensitive personal information, and the Data Privacy Act gives that category particular protection. Please do not send us case documents, court filings, medical or psychological reports, civil registry documents, or information about children involved in a dispute. We do not need it, we cannot advise you on it, and sending it by ordinary email is not secure. If you send such material anyway, we will not publish it, and we will delete it once the message has been dealt with.
Comments
Where comments are enabled on a guide, WordPress records the name, email address and any website address you enter, together with your IP address and browser user-agent string, which are used to detect spam. Comment metadata may be checked against an automated spam-filtering service. If you have a Gravatar account, an anonymised hash of your email address may be sent to that service so your avatar can be displayed.
Comments are a public part of the site. Do not post details of your own family situation in a comment.
Information Collected Automatically
Our hosting, security and content-delivery infrastructure processes technical information in the ordinary course of serving pages: IP address, browser and device type, the URL requested, timestamps, referring page, response status and similar server or security log entries. This is used to deliver the site, prevent abuse, diagnose errors and protect the site’s security.
Analytics and Google Services
FamilyCode.ph uses Site Kit by Google to connect supported Google services, which may include Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Analytics processes information about how visitors reach and use the site — pages viewed, approximate location derived from IP address, device and browser information, referral source and interaction data. Search Console provides aggregated information about how the site appears in Google Search.
We use this to understand which guides are useful and where readers get stuck. We do not use it to identify individual readers, and we do not run advertising on this site.
Images and Content Delivery
Images on this site are optimised and served through a content delivery network. Your browser’s request for an image is therefore handled by that provider’s servers, which process the same kind of technical information described above.
Cookies and Similar Technologies
FamilyCode.ph and the services it uses may set cookies or use local storage for essential site operation, security, remembering preferences and analytics. Not every cookie serves the same purpose, and the basis for using one depends on what it does. Where consent is legally required for a non-essential technology, it should be obtained before that technology is used in the manner requiring consent. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings; essential ones cannot be refused without affecting how the site works.
Why Information Is Processed
- to deliver and maintain the website;
- to protect it against spam, abuse, attacks and unauthorised access;
- to understand how guides perform and improve them;
- to respond to corrections, editorial questions and other messages;
- to comply with legal obligations; and
- to establish, exercise or defend legal rights where necessary.
Our Basis for Processing
Under Section 12 of the Data Privacy Act, personal information may be processed where the data subject has consented, where processing is necessary to fulfil a legal obligation, or where it is necessary for the legitimate interests of the controller, except where those interests are overridden by the data subject’s fundamental rights and freedoms.
We rely on consent when you choose to email us or leave a comment; on legitimate interests for security logging, spam prevention and aggregate analytics, which are necessary to run a public information site safely; and on legal obligation where the law requires us to retain or disclose something.
Sharing
We do not sell personal information, and we do not publish information sent to us privately merely because it was sent. Information may be processed by service providers acting for us — hosting, security, content delivery, spam filtering, analytics and email. Information may also be disclosed where reasonably necessary to comply with applicable law, a lawful government request or court process, or to protect legal rights.
Where Information Is Processed
Some of the providers described above operate servers outside the Philippines. Where personal information is processed abroad, it remains subject to this policy, and we remain accountable for it as personal information controller under the Data Privacy Act.
Retention
Information is kept only as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose it was collected for, or as required by law. Correspondence is deleted once the matter it concerns is closed and there is no continuing reason to keep it. Server and security logs are retained for a limited operational period. Analytics data is retained according to the settings of the analytics service.
Security
We use reasonable organisational and technical measures intended to protect the website and the information processed through it, including encrypted connections, access controls and kept-current software. No website, email account or internet transmission can be guaranteed completely secure, which is why we ask you not to send sensitive case material by email.
Your Rights Under the Data Privacy Act
If you are a data subject whose personal information we process, Republic Act No. 10173 gives you the right:
- to be informed whether your personal information is being processed, and of the purpose and extent of that processing;
- to access the personal information we hold about you, and information about how it has been processed;
- to object to processing, including processing for direct marketing or profiling;
- to rectification — to have inaccurate or incomplete information corrected;
- to erasure or blocking — to have information removed or withheld in the circumstances the law provides;
- to damages for inaccurate, incomplete, outdated, false or unlawfully obtained information;
- to data portability — to obtain a copy of information you provided, in a commonly used electronic format; and
- to lodge a complaint with the National Privacy Commission.
These rights are subject to the exceptions and limitations the Act provides. Under Section 17, they may be exercised by the lawful heirs and assigns of a data subject who has died or become incapacitated.
How to Exercise Your Rights
Write to us through the Contact page, describing what you are asking for. We may need to ask a question or two to confirm that the request comes from you before we act on it — we will not ask for documents we do not need. We aim to respond within a reasonable period and, in any case, to acknowledge the request promptly.
Complaints to the National Privacy Commission
If you believe your rights under the Data Privacy Act have been infringed, you may complain to us first so we have a chance to put it right, and you may in any case bring the matter to the National Privacy Commission. The Commission publishes its own complaint procedure. Complaining to us first is not a precondition to complaining to the Commission.
Children
FamilyCode.ph publishes legal information for adults and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from a child. Although our guides discuss custody, support and the welfare of children, we do not seek or want information about any individual child, and we ask readers not to send it.
External Links
We link frequently to government agencies, court decisions and official issuances so that readers can verify what we say. Those sites are operated independently and have their own privacy practices. A link from FamilyCode.ph does not make us responsible for how the destination site handles your information.
Data Breaches
We maintain a process for assessing security incidents and personal data breaches. Where notification is legally required, we will notify the National Privacy Commission and the affected data subjects within the period and in the manner the rules require, based on the information reasonably available at the time.
Changes to This Policy
This policy may be updated when website functionality, service providers, legal requirements or data practices materially change. Check the date below when relying on it.
Last materially reviewed: September 10, 2026.