Invasion of Privacy, Harassment, Internet

[NewGuise]

Not in the UK. ...

This is all true re copyright. However, in the UK (as a friend recently discovered), photographs can be subject to the Data Protection Act (1998), under which 'publication' (including internet posting) of photos of identifiable individual persons (as opposed to a crowd) requires the individual's explicit consent and "fair obtaining" on the part of the photographer - informing the subject of the purpose and so forth of the photograph.

[Good Egg]

Even a kilt that is 4" - 6" short would hardly be indecent. 1 1/2" inches is just a matter of taste. If the middle of the knee is standard then I tend to err on the side of short rather than long.

I'm with others on this. I think this is harassment although as I'm on the other side of the pond I can't comment on what harassment is legally where you are. If you were had done this to her nobody would question if it was harassment.

For all the reasons that others have mentioned I think you should pursue this. If you are not inclined to take it up with management at this time you could try e-mailing her and telling her that you feel hurt harassed and demeaned by her taking a photo of you and publishing it on the internet with disparaging remarks and demanding an apology. You should say that provided there is an apology and she does not continue to harass you or other workmates you will not take any further but in the event that she continues to harass you or others you will report this and the subsequent action.

Or you could e-mail her tell her you heard about it and your wife/friends think its a great hoot and can she let you have copy.

[Galician]

As good (or not) as a supervisor may be at their job I have been amazed at times about things they are ignorant of in terms of employment law. If you have an HR Manager arranging to speak with them may be a good idea. This will show you are being pro active and unless they are clueless they will be pretty aware of issues were your rights and or legal protections were violated and may be able to ward off any dumb things a supervisor might do.

Not always. It was the HR person in my company who has ruled kilts are not acceptable business attire, even though nothing appears in the written code to indicate this. To date, she has failed to give an explanation.

[muirkirkca]

I would go to the County Office of Discrimination and get their legal take on it and pursue it from that end. As a minimum she should have to remove the offending Facebook page. At the other end she is open to defamation and libel. Try to use the public resources available to you.

[Nighthawk]

I would go to the County Office of Discrimination and get their legal take on it and pursue it from that end. As a minimum she should have to remove the offending Facebook page. At the other end she is open to defamation and libel. Try to use the public resources available to you.

I have found that the best way to deal with bullies is say something along the lines of "Your comment is blatantly ignorant. Give me one good reason why I should give a damn about what you think. You did not have permission to photograph me, or to post photos of me on your blog. Take it down." And if reason doesn't do the trick... take the above advice. I only say to try and resolve the issue by means of reason first because it will strengthen your case when she refuses.

[wildrover]

This is why any place of business has an HR department. Take it there, first, and let them know what has happened, why it isn't ok with you, and what you want to happen. Also, make sure it's officially noted.

Hold off with the police report, for the moment. HR may have better ideas for how to resolve her problems, including a position on camera phones and co-workers, as well as social networking sites and personal content derived from and/or involving the workplace.

Keep in mind that your kilt is incidental...it is her conduct that was inappropriate and possibly illegal, you and your kilt were little more than innocent bystanders.

-Sean

[Chas]

This is all true re copyright. However, in the UK (as a friend recently discovered), photographs can be subject to the Data Protection Act (1998), under which 'publication' (including internet posting) of photos of identifiable individual persons (as opposed to a crowd) requires the individual's explicit consent and "fair obtaining" on the part of the photographer - informing the subject of the purpose and so forth of the photograph.

Hi Garrett,

Can your friend please tell us which part of the Act covers photographs? From my reading of the Act, photographs are specifically not covered. The Act does not define the size or composition of 'a crowd', it would be extremely difficult to bring a prosecution against it. I would be interested to find out under what circumstances this information was given to them and more to the point by whom.

Regards

Chas

[Lallans]

One additonal thought to what's already been posted: If there's any sort of safety issue with having your photo posted as a County employee, be sure to bring that up. That sort of thing would raise some major hackles where I am.

[Bugbear]

The thought keeps coming to the back of my mind that the company has some kind of responsibility in or ownership of this photo because it was taken by an employ of another employ on company time and property in a non-public place.

Just a thought that keeps bugging me.

[sathor]

Now, I am also a photographer, and I know that it is generally ILLEGAL (copyright infringement) for a photographer to publicly display images of living persons without their consent

In the states, for it to get to that point it has to somehow exploit the fame of the person, and if taken in a public place, there is little that can be done.

Now, attempting to profit from the image is a bit different.