The lawyer: “George Clooney is right: the photos of the children must not end up on the Web”

Your need to sell advertising is no greater than the need to prevent it innocent children become a target“. George Clooney wrote to the newspapers, and in particular to the Daily Mail, to defend the right to privacy of children, his and other celebrities, after the British tabloid published the photos of the one-year-old daughter of the American actress Billie Lourd in the online edition, and then removed them. “The publication of his photos, even intrusive ones,” for Clooney is “part of the price to pay”, but “my children did not make this commitment “.

Even according to the lawyer Antonella Dario, consultant in family law, co-author of the book «Minors, Internet and Social Networks“(Ed. Giuffré) together with his colleague Antonino La Lumia, publishing the images of a child online is” an unacceptable violation of the right to the image and privacy of the minor with concrete risks of incurring hypothesis of computer crimes. Once placed online, images of minors can be easily exploited for illegal purposes, with often irreversible consequences ».

And, even if our children are much less likely than George Clooney’s children to end up in the newspapers, they run just as many risks when their images end up on the Net through social networks. The photos, in fact, can be shared by all contacts. “Claiming to own the images, videos and other content on your profile,” says the lawyer Dario, “you agree that the material uploaded or shared on the virtual platform it is then freely given to anyone for use, in accordance with the law “.

Parents should be the first to defend their children’s privacy. «Posting photos of minor children on social networks it must be considered an activity that is prejudicial in itself due to the characteristics of the internet. The dissemination of personal data and images on the internet is very fast and it is very difficult, almost impossible, to control the information flows. The protection of privacy is often instrumental to the protection of a whole series of other rights of the person », explains the lawyer.

But there is another aspect to consider: the problem of security. «When an image of a minor is published, it is exhibited on a showcase in front of which a potentially infinite audience can pass. On the one hand, in fact, even private profiles are not risk-free and, on the other hand, the information, once entered on the internet, tends to remain there forever and the deletion of one’s data, even if guaranteed today by the Privacy Guarantor. , remains extremely difficult, especially if you do not know what and how much information has been entered ».

Here, then, are some useful advice for parents: “Better to avoid photos of children naked or in underwear or references to the school that our children frequent, frame easily recognizable places. Avoid entering confidential information, ”suggests the lawyer. Plus, it’s always better “make the baby’s face unrecognizable. There are now numerous online services and free apps that allow you to add blur and pixelation to your images. When it is not about one’s own children, then, it is necessary to ask the parents for prior written consent before publishing “. It is also necessary to «pay attention to the consent that is required by schools, dance academies and sports centers that activate social pages to promote their activities. In any case, they should “pixelate” the faces of children“. It is not a violation of children’s privacy rights to take pictures and videos during school plays or essays by parents. «In this case, in fact, it is a hypothesis of realization intended for private consultation and not for dissemination. But if you want to publish material on social networks, since it is dissemination, you must obtain the consent of the parent “.

Other stories of Vanity Fair that may interest you:

– Security on the web: 9 things every parent should do

– George Clooney to the media: “Do not publish photos of our children”