Revenge Porn: Are you an unknowing victim?

It has happened before countless times; a person leaves their cell phone unattended, it is found by someone else and pictures or sensitive information ends up online similarly to what happened recently with Kate Upton and Jennifer Lawrence. 

This time it happened again, only to a Middle school teacher in Georgia. She allegedly gave her cell phone to the students to use for emergencies and they instead posted online naked selfies of the teacher which they found in her phone. The teacher is claiming her cell phone was stolen by the students.  After being fired from her position, she plans on bringing forth a lawsuit against the school board likely for wrongful termination and against the students for their actions.

According to the law, the teacher has a right to privacy over her cell phone and its contents.  Furthermore, she has a right to privacy against the public disclosure of private facts (i.e. the naked selfies) which do not comprise a newsworthy event. While she may have been negligent in giving her cell phone to her students when she knew she had naked pictures within, the students violated her rights when they published the pictures. 

The students may face additional criminal charges stemming from a new bill, H.B. 838, which was recently signed into law in Georgia by the Governor making it a criminal offense for a person to post online a naked photograph of another adult without their consent. This “Revenge Porn” bill as it is colloquially referred to is being proposed in many states, including Florida, where it was approved by the Florida Senate unanimously but failed to make it to a vote in the House of Representatives. The inspiration for this bill is the revenge posing online of naked pictures of a previous significant other by their partner or lover after the relationship is over.  

While it may be too late for this teacher, this new law hopefully will serve to dissuade people from posting nude selfies of another person online without their consent. Notwithstanding, it is best to be extremely careful about where one leaves their phones containing private information and pictures.

For more information, please contact David Vega, Esq. at dvega@gr-law.net.