"Ted’s parents have broadcast photographs to all their friends and their friends’ friends on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter, starting with a scan of him inside the womb." Credit: Pixabay/LoboStudioHamburg/383 images. Public domain.Ted is 18 years old. He has spent his whole life online, posting pictures on social media, chatting with friends and catching up on everybody’s news. He has a comprehensive digital identity, as well as a real-life one. A fairly regular 21st-century kid.
But here’s the rub: much of that digital identity was created without his consent. From the moment he was born, Ted’s parents have broadcast photographs to all their friends and their friends’ friends on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Twitter, starting with a scan of him inside the womb. They have published seminal developmental moments: his first steps, his first words, his first day leaving for high school. They have asked questions, embarrassing ones, about his baby bowel movements on online forums.
Ted’s entire life is available to see online. And now, having reached an age where he can decide for himself, he has decided to sue the people responsible for what he has come to see as a violation of his privacy: his parents.
