# Posting video clips of friends on web



## hastalavista (4 Sep 2011)

just came across a raft of video clips of our son on the web that were taken by one of his pals and includes lots of other pals.

If I were an employer I would not be impressed, the problem is that the tags include his correct name, as it does for all the others.

He has not given any consent for them being posted.

The poster just laughs

They are all adults so not within my ambit from a legal perspective?

One of the sites they are on is Russian

Any thoughts?


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## Thirsty (4 Sep 2011)

Unless they are a clear invasion of privacy (i.e. taken in a bath/bedroom/state of undress) I don't believe you have any legal way to prevent video or photos being taken of an adult and posted online.  Your consent to photo or video being published is not required, unless you own the copyright of the photo or video.

(the above is my understanding as a amateur photographer - not a legal opinion)


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## pudds (4 Sep 2011)

> taken by one of his pals





> f I were an employer I would not be impressed



whats it got to do with an employer


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## flossie (5 Sep 2011)

If it is on a social networking site surely your son can remove the tags of himself? Also, changing privacy settings to only allow 'friends' can stop people seeing them.


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## hastalavista (5 Sep 2011)

pudds said:


> whats it got to do with an employer



All prospective employers trawl the web looking for background stuff on people, [ as do the Revenue and Social welfare]

This is the  new reality and CV's get rejected based on what they see and don't like.


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## hastalavista (5 Sep 2011)

Thirsty said:


> Unless they are a clear invasion of privacy (i.e. taken in a bath/bedroom/state of undress) I don't believe you have any legal way to prevent video or photos being taken of an adult and posted online.  Your consent to photo or video being published is not required, unless you own the copyright of the photo or video.
> 
> (the above is my understanding as a amateur photographer - not a legal opinion)



Why then did the Data protection guy make the website shut down that had fotos of folk at bustops
[broken link removed]


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## hastalavista (5 Sep 2011)

flossie said:


> If it is on a social networking site surely your son can remove the tags of himself? Also, changing privacy settings to only allow 'friends' can stop people seeing them.



They are on Youtube under another user, as on the Russian one


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## Jim2007 (5 Sep 2011)

hastalavista said:


> Why then did the Data protection guy make the website shut down that had fotos of folk at bustops
> [broken link removed]



Please read the article again and take not the he did not force them to close down.  He expressed some concerns and opinions but that is all.  It is not even clear if the he has a role in this area at all, see his own comment:

"He said the taking of the photos by members of the public would be unlikely to give rise to data protection issues as this would probably be covered by the exemption for “personal data”."

Jim.


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## Complainer (5 Sep 2011)

It's really up to your son to sort this out with whoever has posted the videos. If the poster really won't do anything, then follow the Youtube privacy removal process; http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hlrm=en-GB&answer=142443


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## hastalavista (7 Sep 2011)

Jim2007 said:


> Please read the article again and take not the he did not force them to close down.  He expressed some concerns and opinions but that is all.  It is not even clear if the he has a role in this area at all, see his own comment:
> 
> "He said the taking of the photos by members of the public would be unlikely to give rise to data protection issues as this would probably be covered by the exemption for “personal data”."
> 
> Jim.



Indeed he did and he went on to say:
"But the site, in publishing them, seemed to be a “data controller” processing personal data without the consent of those whose images were involved."

Its the same issue as Google maps. They remove pics of folk when asked



Complainer said:


> It's really up to your son to sort this out with whoever has posted the videos. If the poster really won't do anything, then follow the Youtube privacy removal process; http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hlrm=en-GB&answer=142443


 Thanks


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## Jim2007 (7 Sep 2011)

hastalavista said:


> Indeed he did and he went on to say:
> "But the site, in publishing them, seemed to be a “data controller” processing personal data without the consent of those whose images were involved."



The article states:

A website that encouraged members of the public to post pictures of strangers they found themselves attracted to on public transport, *has been taken down.*

It does not say that he closed it down, nor would he try because his authority is unclear and he is being very careful in what he says:

"Data Protection Commissioner Billy Hawkes told The Irish Times  his office would contact the site to ask the operators if they had considered their legal obligations – including under the Data Protection Acts."

This is simply an inquiry, but it has no basis in law....

He said the taking of the photos by members of the public would be unlikely to give rise to data protection issues as this would probably be covered by the exemption for “personal data”.

Again the DPC is admitting that there is great doubt about his authority in this area....

"But the site, in publishing them, seemed to be a “data controller” processing personal data without the consent of those whose images were involved."

Again an opinion, not a fact - he states it "seemed to be"

"Mr Hawkes said without such consent, there was “no other obvious legal basis” in the Acts permitting publication of the photos, unless the site could legitimately claim the publication was covered by the exemption for journalism, literature and art, which he said it “possibly can”. This is the exemption relied upon by newspapers."

This is the bottom line, if the DPC can't stop a paper from publishing a picture, it is unlikely he can do it on a website either.

You need to read what is actually there not what you'd like to hear.




hastalavista said:


> Its the same issue as Google maps. They remove pics of folk when asked



I think that is a very good company policy, it's not the law.

Right now there is no clear law on this and unless you are willing to put a lot of money in to legal fees, you best bet is try and sort it out on a reasonable basis with your son's friends and the publisher.  But trying to put the law on them is not going to work, because it is critical to their business and they have deep pockets.

Jim.


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