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Teen sues her parents for posting embarrassing photographs of her as a child on social media.

The teenager, from the southern Carinthia region of Austria, claims the intimate pictures from her childhood have made her life a misery, reports Daily Mail.

She claims more than 500 images have been posted by her parents on the social media site without her permission since 2009.

Lawyer Michael Rami says his client has a good chance of winning in court.

The pictures show such childhood moments as having her nappy changed and potty training.

She is quoted as saying: ‘They knew no shame and no limit – and didn’t care whether it was a picture of me sitting on the toilet or lying naked in my cot – every stage was photographed and then made public.”

‘I’m tired of not being taken seriously by my parents.’

Her parents have reportedly refused to delete the pictures, which were shared with their 700 friends on Facebook.

The father is understood to be arguing that since he took the pictures, he has the right to publish them.

A court case is set to take place in November and Rami says his client will win if it can be proven the photos violated her rights to a personal life.

If successful, the parents may end up having to pay compensation to their daughter – as well as her legal costs.

Earlier this year we shared a post from Dr. Deborah Gilboa, a parenting expert and TODAY contributor, who urges parents to use the strictest privacy settings on social media sites to prevent people from stealing photos. But she acknowledges that these measures are often not enough.

“This is a fact of life that if you are going to put photos on the Internet, you are going to quite possibly see them in places you wouldn’t expect. If you are entirely opposed to that, you very may well have to consider not putting them online,” she says.

She recommends when kids become old enough — around 7 or 8 years old — parents should ask their children if they can post pictures of them.

Leonie Smith from the Cyber Safety Lady gives these tips on being safe with your private photos of your children:

•Ask yourself: why are you sharing your photos in the first place? What are you trying to gain from it? If the answer isn’t about how many ‘likes’ you might get and is more about sharing with your family and friends, then there are other ways you can do it without risking them becoming so public.
•Create a private group: On Facebook, you can create a private group for selected family and friends where you can share your photos safely. Invite people to be part of the group under the proviso that they are not to share your photos elsewhere.
•Email the photos directly to people you want to share with.
•Send hard copies to elderly relatives. Even family and friends who have social media accounts might enjoy receiving some good old-fashioned snail mail from you!
•Make a point to read and understand the privacy rules on each social media site you are signing up for. Go back and re-read the rules every few months, as things can change without you even knowing.
•If you do decide to continue posting photos of your child online, go back and delete them every few months. People lose their social media accounts all of the time through hacking, so make sure you don’t store up too many photos.

Always get permission from your child once they are of an age to understand so it teaches them they have rights and can say NO!

Share your comments below.

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Image via shutterstock

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  • How sad these parents show such little respect to their own daughter and refuse to remove these pictures !

    Reply

  • Am so pleased these sites weren’t around when my children were little – but then again, I didn’t have the time to take many photos of my children.

    Reply

  • Can Facebook be officially ordered to shut the page down? I suspect some of the photos may be more than just embarrassing.

    Reply

  • I find quite disturbing that the daughter asked the parents to remove the pictures and they didn’t. Why? Didn’t they realize that that was going to destroy their relationship?

    Reply

  • One must remember that once they are out there in cyber space they are out there to stay.
    People should think and respect other people. Even posting what you feel is a harmless childhood photo could prove a disaster..so many perverts around and you have know idea what can happen to your innocent pics.

    Reply

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