Eleanor Leedham, Legal Director at Keller Postman UK
Data protection experts at Keller Postman UK have warned that more can be done to protect consumers’ rights to privacy online following the recent Stephen Bear ruling.
The reality star was given a prison sentence and will be placed on the sex offenders’ register as a result of sharing explicit content without his ex-girlfriend’s consent.
Eleanor Leedham, data protection and technology law expert at Keller Postman UK, said: “The ruling has rightly enforced the message that revenge porn, which involves sharing intimate images online without consent and with the intention to cause distress, is a crime. This case sends a strong message in relation to data privacy too.
“The Online Safety Bill is there to protect individuals against malicious actions such as those carried out by Stephen Bear. While the judgment in this case sends a strong message to perpetrators, more needs to be done to ensure that digital platforms have more robust measures in place to protect individuals. Such platforms should have sufficient checks in place to ensure that individuals featured in their content, have consented to having that content shared online.”
The new draft of the Online Safety Bill was at the committee stage at the House of Lords at the time of writing. Keller Postman UK has offices in London, Birmingham and Liverpool.
Visit www.kellerpostman.co.uk for more information.
