September 15, 2016
In the 10 years since Facebook redefined the meaning of the term "social network," about 1.71 billion people worldwide have joined to share their thoughts, feelings, opinions, favorite content and dog/cat/food/baby pictures on a frequent basis.
Most of the time, Facebook posts are a powerful way to connect with the causes of the wider world and engage people you either wouldn't normally interact with or wouldn't be able to keep up with in such a comprehensive way.
Then there's the 18-year-old Austrian woman who is suing her parents for posting seven years worth of photos that show some of the most humiliating moments of her infancy and upbringing, according to The Local.
More than 500 images have been shared over those seven unbearable years — soiled diapers and lying naked in bed, for example — and now that she's all grown up, she's hired an attorney to get payback for the unwanted exposure.
The woman argues that she never consented to the photos being shared and asked her parents on numerous occasions to remove them. The father, claiming ownership of the child and photos, called the collection "a nice family album" that's been popular among more than 700 friends who have seen it grow since 2009, according to a local magazine.
Michael Rami, the woman's lawyer, says his client can likely win if it can be proven that they precluded her ability to enjoy a personal life. In Germany, officials in Hagan last year asked parents to avoid sharing photos of their kids online. French authorities, according to Deutsche Welle, have instituted fines for parents who post photos of their children without their consent.
Facebook, meanwhile, is facing its own class action lawsuit out of Austria after a data protection activist sued the company for allegedly allowing the information of Viennese users to be harvested by a United States surveillance program.
