Lee & White

There are many of us who widely publish our photographs containing images of ourselves, loved ones and friends on the Internet on networks such as Facebook, Friendster, Flickr and so on. And more often than not, we also publish photographs of others - including strangers and bystanders who happen to be in that picture when it was taken.

Now, not many people realise that pictures are also personal data, and therefore, fall under the protection of personal data by law. Many organisations also publish pictures of employees, contractors, customers, and members on their websites - usually without prior consent. Since many are unaware of the fact that a picture of a person amounts to information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person, there is no claiming of this privacy right by the affected individual nor a corresponding performance of the legal duty by the data controller.

Many questions can arise concerning this area - including the fact that if one publishes the pictures on a social network for a limited circle of friends and in the course of household activities (whereby the pictures are intended to be shared with close friends), and equates it to placing photographs in the traditional photo album, then surely, this does not fall under the Data Protection law. Then again, uploading pictures on the internet is hardly private despite the privacy settings on such networks because like it or not, the network provider has a copy of these pictures and what is eventually done with them is never fully certain. In addition, in the case of using other applications on a social network, it is a "forced consent" given by users because without permitting these third parties to access a user's general information including his/her profile picture, the user is unable to use the application he/she wishes.

Furthermore, pictures published are easily copied by everyone with a click of the mouse. What happens then?

Pictures of children published by ignorant parents who create websites for their children, boasting every bit of personal information such as address, date of birth, likes/dislikes of their child(ren) are becoming more and more rampant. This certainly opens a floodgate of unwanted attention and risks over the child(ren). Parents are supposed to protect their children - or has this changed?

And so, at what cost is one's image sold? Where is the ultimate control one has over his image? Over his personal data? Over his privacy?

How many people actually read the fine print?