AL-BADAYEA – It is good manners to respect others' privacy. Taking permission comes within this lofty humanitarian dealing, but only few people realize that taking permission before taking pictures of others and publishing them comes within this sphere. It is strange that some people consider publishing pictures on social networking websites without taking the owners' permission, as coming within the sphere of permissible conduct. We find that the majority of Instagram users circulate pictures of people or places without taking the owners' permission. The moment they see a child in a certain place, they do not hesitate to take his or her picture and post it online. They keep the picture available for all without permission of the child's parents. One of them might be a guest at your home. Then he or she starts taking pictures of your home and publishing them on his or her Instagram account without asking the host, when you might not like people to seeing what is inside your home. It is a mistake that such people believe that taking pictures in markets, parks and other public places is completely fine. Graduation party Umm Shadin said her daughter, who is in kindergarten, informs her almost everyday that her female teacher takes pictures of her and some of her schoolmates. She thought at the beginning that taking the pictures was related to the graduation party or group photos. However, she was surprised to find her daughter's picture on the teacher's Instagram account. Umm Shadin said she called the teacher to express her disapproval, as pictures of her daughter were taken without prior permission from her and the other mothers. The female teacher considered it a normal thing that does not deserve all this anger. She further said those who object to such matters are suffering from complexes that ought to be treated. Embarrassment Latifa Al-Hazmi said such a matter is normal. There is no harm in publishing pictures. The new generation has become used to sharing pictures and publishing them on social networking websites. The only problem is when these pictures are misused or when they are used as a source of mockery or cracking jokes. This might cause great embarrassment for people in the pictures. The matter becomes worse if the names of the people in the pictures are published. Mazin Abdullah asked about the reaction of the boy or girl when he or she grows up and in the future, finds pictures and video clips that were taken during their childhood, published on different social networking websites, especially since we are living in a conservative society that sanctifies privacy. Protection of rights Noora Al-Muqrin, a photographer, said Instagram has put a limit to privacy. People can set the account on private thus allowing limited people, whom they approve of, to view their photos. Disseminating friendship Abdullah Al-Mu'nis, another photographer, said he does not object to photographing his children when they go out with him to public places. On the contrary, he says this disseminates happiness and friendliness. He added that he does not hesitate to take permission from families so as to photograph their children who he sees in public places and save their pictures in his Instagram account. Al-Mu'nis said he does object to circulating pictures he has kept in his Instagram account. He will be happy that people are interested in his pictures. Violation of privacy Al-Anoud Abdulrahman, a photographer, said publishing photos of relatives is a violation of privacy. If the photos are of scenery, then there is no objection. Not everything published on the Internet can be considered everybody's property. She said placing pictures and video files in her personal website does not give others the right to keep them without taking prior permission from her. Intellectual property rights Atheer Yusuf, a photographer, said she prefers to show the pictures of some moments in her life on social networking websites, but to a reasonable limit. She said there are intellectual property rights for any work. She stressed that it is not everybody's right to use whatever has been shown on the Internet, because it requires taking prior permission. She said she found many photographs belonging to her, shown on the Internet by other people as their own work. She added that people lack awareness on intellectual property rights, which ought to be respected. Clear violation Ahmad Jam'an Al-Malki, a lawyer and legal adviser, said using other people's pictures on social networking websites is a clear violation of the owner's rights. He added that it is necessary to obtain permission from the owner. He stressed that it is a violation of personal freedom. This act might rise to the level of violating the anti-cyber crimes regulation.
