The girl says she has requested that her parents to take down the photos several times and told her local paper, “I’m exhausted of not being taken seriously by my parents”.
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Yes, there are tons of people who overshare on Facebook, but not many that get sued because of it, and yet that is what is happening to parents to an 18-year-old woman who has made a decision to sue her parents for posting embarrassing photos of her as a child on Facebook.
But an 18-year-old in Austria might serve as a warning to all the snap-happy, social media-addicted parents in the world.
The shared images include baby pictures of her having her nappy changed and later potty training pictures.
Her father claims that he, as the photographer, has the right to publish the photos, and has refused her requests to delete them.
According to Michael Rami, if the woman’s day in court can prove that the photographs have violated her rights to a personal life, then she may well win the case.
The teenager said her parents “knew no shame and no limit”, and didn’t care what the images depicted, whether she was naked or using the toilet. “Every stage was photographed and then made public”, the young woman said, adding that the images were shared to her parents’ 700 friends online.
A notice from police in Hagen reads: “Please stop posting photos of your children on Facebook and Co. for everybody to see”.
And it might also mean the parents have to pay money to the child. They warned that sharing certain images could attract sexual predators or create social problems for kids later in life. This is the first case of its kind in Austria, but he says that based on similar cases overseas the girl’s parents may have to pay some financial compensation for her pain and suffering, and will also be liable for her legal costs.
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Authorities in France actively advise parents to keep photos of their children offline, and anyone convicted of publishing images of another person – including family members – without consent can face up to a year in prison and a hefty fine.
