Austrian woman sues parents for posting her embarrassing childhood photos on Facebook

An Austrian woman is suing her parents for posting embarrassing childhood photos of her on Facebook. The 18-year-old unnamed woman from Carinthia claims her parents made her life miserable by constantly posting images of her as a baby on the social media site without her consent.

The Local reports that the shared pictures include baby photos of the woman having her nappy changed and having her potty training. Her lawyer, Michael Rami, said the parents have posted 500 images of the woman on their Facebook page, which has 700 friends.

“They knew no shame and no limit – and didn’t care whether it was a picture of me sitting on the toilet or lying naked in my cot – every stage was photographed and then made public,” the woman was quoted by the publication as saying.

She had requested her parents to delete the photos but they refused, leaving her no choice but to sue them. “I’m tired of not being taken seriously by my parents,” she said.

Rami said that his client has a high chance of winning the case if they can prove that the images have violated her rights to personal life. The woman’s father, on the other hand, believes that he has the right to publish the images since he was the one who took them.

The case is the first of its kind in Austria. It will be heard in November. If the parents lost the case, they may have to pay financial compensation for their daughter’s pain and suffering.

As the paper notes, Austrian privacy laws on social media issues are not as strict as some other countries. Likewise in Australia, there is not specific law preventing parents to post pictures of their own children on their private social media accounts. The laws, however, prohibit anyone – including parents – to post pictures of children and young people depicted in a sexual manner or in a context that can constitute images of abuse, the Australian Institute of Family Studies notes.