Can My Ex Friend legally post pictures of my 4 year old on MSN and Facebook?

[Gizmo100]

Hi I have just found out that an ex friend of mine has published photographs of my 4 year old daughter on his face book and msn ? he has 500 members on his Facebook and Im sure he said 1000 msn contacts ? this is due to his addiction to online dating sites ? his facebook has only two men out of 498 women ? I never put my daughters photographs on the net ? my own Facebook has my dog! I?ve reported him to MSN and previous to this he has verbally been asked by my sister to remove and i emailed and asked him to remove or i would have no option but to report him to MSN. He has sneakily worked it that he has hidden the photographs from me on msn but they are still there because he forgot to hide them from another friend who is on his contact list. I?ve contacted msn and await their reply but what?s worrying is my friend who works in the female and child unit in the police said i allowed him to take the photographs he could do whatever he wanted to do with them ? is this actually right?

If he took the pics, then yes he can, i don't understand why he wont just take the down though, is he a pgotographer or something?

Even if they're of children, spiced?

Yep. He owns the copyright of the photos so can do whatever he likes with them.

He can use them, sell them, do whatever he likes with them.

MSN will not be interested I am afraid, and nor will Facebook.

Not saying I agree, I think your ex friend is a cock but that is the way it is IMO.

Yep, he can. He owns the copyright so he can do what he wants with them.

MSN and Facebook will not be interested, I am afraid.

Not saying I agree, I think your ex friend is a cock, but there is nothing you can you about it now unless he takes them down.

But if he removes them from those sites how do you know where else he has put them?

He could sell them to an advertising agency without your consent if he wanted to because he owns them.

Yes. Sometimes, you get lucky and a site will remove them, but they don't have to.

Just because you own copyright in the photos does not mean you have an absolute right to use them how you want.

Posting the photos is very probably an infringement of your and your child's privacy/Article 8 rights. You could sue him for that. The courts take it seriously, especially where children are involved. It is certainly something to mention to msn and Facebook when you contact them.

Without exaggerating i feel physically sick with it all ? my friend in the police is really not interested because she sees it that i allowed him to take the fotos while we were on holiday but my friend turned on me on holiday when I declined his advances (he has a girlfriend) and I ended up leaving the accommodation and flying back to a different airport ? it is clear he has huge psychiatric problems ? this all happened 4 weeks ago and he posted all these photographs on Sunday when he knows we are no longer friends. He did this last year after we came back from holiday and i told him i never put her photographs on the internet ? he is definitely punishing me because i didn?t accept his advances Its is if he?s trying to show all these girls how popular he is ? he is so sad ? he tried to kid people on holiday my daughter was his daughter but i always said this is my daughter and this is my pal ? he pulled me up saying you don?t need to tell everyone Im just a pal!!!!!!!!!! Alarm bells started to ring

Complaining to MSN won't get you very far. Microsoft own less than 2% of Facebook. You should complain direct to Facebook.

Why is he doing this?

Ive just twigged he is a really controling person - on the surface he is a really nice guy but when we were away he showed his true colours - im not a bad judge of character but this guy is so unpredictable - sounds terrible but i dont know if to emails all the folk on his facebook and tell them that he has posted the photograph of my daughter without her or my permission - i know it could backfire but i thought this would not be allowed but appears it is - he has them saved in his facebook profile plus his msn profiel so if your on his facebook or msn contacts he has them on both sites hell he even has photographs of his 11 year old niece in her bikini - this guy has serious issues - he knws i will not be happy with this - im going to go to the polie and mention section 8

The Human Rights Act 1998 only binds public bodies, and not individuals, so there still is no general right to protection from invasion of privacy by other individuals in society. This means that you cannot sue your neighbour, or a private company, for invading your privacy.

Spiced Gherkin, that's just not right.

Of course you can sue for invasion or infringement of privacy-Max Moseley anyone? It is happening all the time. It was the basis on which John Terry tried to get his super injunction. Remember Lord Browne (ex BP chairman) who got into trouble for not telling the truth in a court case? That was an action for infringement of privacy too.

The UK courts have now recognised an enforceable privacy right, whether deriving from Article 8 or as a new species of breach of confidence doesn't matter. You can do it,and people ARE doing it. Gizmo100, do complain and do mention invasion of privacy when you do. It's very important also to mention that you had already told him not to post up photos of your daughter.

I copied that directly from article 8 It also said

So celebrities who consider that a newspaper has breached their privacy by publishing photographs in situation where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy have been able to go to bring an action for breach of confidence, and then ask the court, as a public authority, to protect their right to privacy.

She allowed him to take the pictures, so i can't see how that applies.

I'm not saying she's wrong to speak to them about it, but don't you tell me i'm not right when i'm quoting from the artile you mentioned

Information security laws and the child protection act means that electronic photos of children are covered under the act.

This means an organisation can't publish photos or details of a child that could lead to that child being identified.

I would pursue this under the child protection act and infosec type stuff.

This act is the one which requires a school to ask for permission before it publishes children's photos on its website.

Children have more protection on the net than adults do in terms of photos.

The act states that the holder of the data (which will be facebook or whoever owns its servers and storage sites) have a duty to ensure the safety of information relating to children, and also to restrict who can access it. So tell facebook you are objecting as it endangers your child under the child protection act.
These photos were taken without your permission and posted without your permission and could endanger your child...tell them that.

SG, my statement that you were wrong relates to your assertion that there was no ability on the part of private individuals to sue other individuals or companies for invasion of privacy. In fact, there is. You can get an injunction, damages and have the photos or whatever handed over or destroyed.

I am not sure what Article 8 you are referring to. Article 8 of the Convention says nothing about bringing an action, it says everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence, then sets out the limited circumstances in which the signatory states may derogate from that.

The Human Rights Act 1998 is not really the issue, as our courts have recognised and protected an enforceable privacy right through case law.

You do not need to be a celebrity to bring an action and you do not need to be bringing an action against a media company.

Also Gizmo, the fact that you gave permission for the photos to be taken may be relevant but it does not stop you from complaining (or suing) now. You have not given permission (in fact, you have expressly withheld permission) for the photos to be put on the web for all to see. In any case, your daughter has her own right to privacy and has given no consent at all. You are entitled to try to stop publication on her behalf. By the same token, if an ex had taken naked photos of you with your consent then was wanting to publish them or sell them after you broke up, you would be able to stop him using confidence and/or privacy law.

That's not necessarily the only legal basis for stopping this, as Miggsie's post makes clear.

Thanks for all your posts and replies - gosh im learning all the time - i think and maybe im speaking wrongly that children were really protected when images were placed on the internet or published in other media for that matter - so should i go to the police on this or do i go to a lawyer?

You could go to police and complain about it on the basis that it is a form of harassment, or an offence under the Computer Misuse Act, though I'm not sure it fully applies. Anyway, I'm sure they'll advise you. If you want to do that I suggest you write to this guy first telling him again to take it down.

If you want to begin a privacy complaint that's a civil matter and you'll need to consult a lawyer.

i think if the children are a) not identified

and b0 are eg in background/general group photo you wont have much say.

if is eg close up of your child posted and they are identified and named then you may have a case

It is a child protection issue imo.

I have no idea if it will work for you but phone the social services child protection office and explain your problem. If they feel your childs privacy and safety has been breached, they will contact the police for you. SS will have far more influence on the police than you as an individual every would.

Your local council will put you through to SS.

This may be a more successful and less expensive route than solicitors.