The child’s right to privacy in the family context

Abstract

After a brief introduction on the origins, foundation and evolution of the right to privacy in Italian legal system, the article examines the issue of children's right to privacy in the context of family relations. In particular, the study dwells on the powers/duties of protection, or rather, of vigilance, connected to the correct exercise of the educational function of parents in the digital context, which may also allow/require access to the digital data of minor children. The paper then addresses other topics related to parental responsibility: the civil liability of parents for online offences committed by their minor children; the qualification of the behaviour of parents who inappropriately or carelessly dispose of their children's personal data (so-called sharenting); and the privacy of minors in relation to health decisions that minors are entitled to take independently.