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.
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.
