Sharing Isnnt Caring: Putting Photographs of Children on Social Media Under the Lens of the GDPR 2016

Abstract

This article explores the harms that children are exposed to when their image is shared on social media and considers how the General Data Protection Regulation 2016 (GDPR 2016) applies to this issue. From a rights perspective, a child's right to privacy and to self-determination are engaged when their picture is disseminated online. Combined with a psychological view, the effect this can have on a child's well-being is considered and shown to be a concern. An exploration of how images can be commercialized and how this affects the subject is also undertaken. Finally, a deontological perspective buttresses the argument that children require protection against this practice by demonstrating how it encourages the use of children as a means to an end and also how it wrongs human dignity. With the need to protect children as a grounding, the second half of this article considers the role of the GDPR 2016 to this issue. Photographs are classified as personal data and, as such, are subject to restrictions on processing. Thus, the Regulation creates the legal basis for the hosting of children's images on social media. Whilst it protects against the processing of photographs and the processing of biometric data for the purposes of identifying the subject, its value is capped by its allowance of parental consent to legitimize these activities. Given that the parent is involved in the request for such processing, it is a major weakness that they can sanction it. In its concluding remarks, this article calls for better protection for children against the sharing of their image online.