Even The Unborn Have A Right To Privacy, Says Malta’s Data Protection Commissioner
Malta’s data protection commissioner has insisted mothers-to-be should be banned from uploading photos of their ultrasounds on social media… so as to safeguard the privacy of their unborn children.
“One cannot identify the unborn child so data protection rules don’t really apply,” Saviour Cachia said on TVAM yesterday. “However, it is a shame that [parents] are stealing their baby’s own privacy before it has even entered the world. We speak of so many rights of the unborn child nowadays and I believe this should be one of them, so as to safeguard their privacy.”
“Why do people feel the need to boast by uploading pictures of their unborn children? I can’t understand this and I condemn it.”
Cachia was a panel guest during a discussion which focused on the dangers of uploading photos of children on social media.
“Unfortunately, parents often don’t seem to care about their children’s data protection rights and expose them on social media themselves,” he said. “I absolutely disagree with this behaviour as it risks seriously damaging the children.”
As an example, Cachia warned that criminals have taken to superimposing children’s faces onto compromising images and distributing them among paedophile rings.
Meanwhile, counsellor and sexologist Matthew Bartolo warned that uploading photos of children onto social media could condition their future behaviour.
“It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy….if a parent keeps telling a child how stupid he is, the chances are he will believe it and won’t be successful in life,” he said. “Similarly, when we build the digital identity of our children ourselves, the chances are that this identity will stick when they grow up and start making friends. Parents have a lot of responsibility as their actions on social media can impact their children’s confidence and self-esteem.”
What do you make of Saviour Cachia’s arguments?
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