13/06/2021
Posting pictures with sexual content of someone on the Internet without the consent or permission of the person being photographed / videotaped is a form of image-based sexual abuse known as “non-consensual pornography” or “revenge porn”.
Article 17 of the General Data Protection Regulation provides for the right of deletion (“right to be forgotten”), which provides a framework for protection in cases of non-consesual pornography. In particular, the right to be forgotten is the right of the data subject to request the deletion of personal data concerning themselves, if they no longer wishe this data to be processed and if there is no legal reason for the controller to possess it (see also Article 17 of the GDPR and Recitals 65 and 66).
In particular, the data subject may revoke their consent on which the processing is based, in which case the data should be deleted if there is no other legal basis for the processing. Also, if the data are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise or illegally processed, or if the data subject objects to the processing and there are no compelling and legitimate reasons for the processing, the data subject to request their deletion.
Despite the existence of a legal framework, cases of non-consensual pornography are on the rise. The British government-funded Revenge Porn Helpline hit a record 250 cases in April 2020 – doubling the number from the previous year. The Irish charity Refuge has confirmed that revenge pornography is on the rise across Ireland, where images of 140,000 women were leaked last year.
Sofia, one of the women who found their photos on Chatpic, describes at koutipandoras.gr her experience and her decision to take a legal action. As her lawyer explains, with whom we have talked personally, this is a big court battle, as they are going to turn against the global Chatpic platform and not only against the man who uploaded the photos of the complainant. As DATAWO, we are closely following the case.
In this context, we republish the article entitled “The first lawsuit in Greece against Chatpic is filed ” by Anna Nini, which was published on 11 May 2021 at tokoutitispandoras.gr for further information. The article is cited only in Greek. Thanks ”tokoutitispandors.gr” for letting us repost their aticle!
