Italian Watchdog Fines School for Posting Illegally Obtained Photos of Kids
A nursery school that installed cameras and published photos of young children online was slapped with a 10,000 euro ($12,000) fine and ordered to stop disseminating the illegal images, Italian data protection authority (DPA) Garante said Wednesday.
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The school was found to have published on its website and Google Maps profile numerous photos of kids, ages 3 to 36 months, at different times of the day, including during sleep, while in the bathroom and during diaper changes, the DPA said, according to an unofficial translation. It did so "without considering the risks associated with the greater exposure of images on the web and their possible reusability by criminals for illegal purposes or crimes to the detriment of minors."
The DPA's investigation followed a complaint by a parent who had to give consent to use of images of his daughter to register her for the nursery school. The parent also reported the presence of a video surveillance system inside the facility.
The school's actions couldn't be legally based on parental consent because it wasn't in the children's best interest to see their intimate photos published online to promote the school, the DPA said.
In addition, it said, parental consent couldn't be considered to have been given freely since if they refused, their children wouldn't have been enrolled. The video surveillance system also collected images of staff, parents, suppliers and visitors in breach of privacy laws.
Children's privacy and dignity must be protected from early childhood, the watchdog stressed. Besides the fine, it ordered the school to stop posting the photos and to get rid of the illegal images.