What To Do If Nude Photos of You End Up Online
By admin
It’s basically your worst nightmare: You gave an ex a sexy photo, and now it’s on the web. In Brevard County, FL, the situation was so common that the local sheriff encouraged the state legislature to pass a law criminalizing “revenge porn.” Now, Florida has introduced a bill that would make it a felony to tag a naked picture of someone online without their consent.
The Sunshine State’s obviously not the only place where this happens—and your exes aren’t the only ones who could post potentially incriminating pictures, either. Abusive partners or peeping Toms could take photos without your knowledge, and hackers sometimes steal existing nude photos—all of which can result in involuntary porn. “I’m proud of Florida for their leadership in bringing the criminalization of involuntary porn into the mainstream discussion,” says Erica Johnstone, a partner at the San Francisco law firm Ritter, Costa, and Johnstone and cofounder of Without My Consent, a nonprofit that seeks to combat online invasions of privacy.
Here’s the thing: Regardless of where you live, you do have legal recourse if someone posts graphic images of you without your consent. “A lot of states do have criminal invasion of privacy laws that are on the books,” says Johnstone. Even in states that don’t, a civil lawsuit may help you get your photos taken down. Here, the steps Johnstone recommends taking to help you regain some control over the situation.
Preserve the evidence
While making another copy of the photo may be the last thing you feel like doing when you discover naked photos of yourself online, taking a screenshot or making a PDF of the page is vital if you want to pursue legal action, says Johnstone. “I hear a lot of stories, and what really helps is when the client can say, ‘This is what happened, this is how I know it happened, and here are the PDF documents that prove what I’m saying is true,’” says Johnstone. “We really need that kind of organization coming from clients.”
Find the right lawyer
If you go to a lawyer who tells you that they can’t help you because there aren’t any laws about involuntary porn in place, you’re talking to the wrong lawyer. “There probably aren’t a ton of attorneys yet who are familiar with this type of law,” says Johnstone. You want one who specializes in Internet privacy. If your friends and family members can’t recommend anyone, try contacting your state’s bar association for a referral.
Take steps to remove the photo
Oftentimes you’ll start with a letter to the creep who posted your photo. It will request a settlement agreement that will likely include a restraining agreement where the defendant promises to (a) take down the content, (b) never post it again, and (c) stay far away from you in the future. The settlement agreement should also include a copyright assignment that gives you ownership of the copyright to the photo (you can use this get the owners of any website to take it down). Most likely, the terms of the agreement will also provide for liquidated damages (i.e., money) if the guilty party breaks any of these promises.
File a police report
Johnstone recommends doing this at the same time you contact a lawyer so that police can enforce any criminal laws against involuntary porn that may exist in your state. While Johnstone says civil action is often very effective, criminal action can help give the person who posted your pics even more incentive to take them down.
Use Google to your advantage
If for some reason you’re unable to take down the content or get it removed, you’ll want to use some search engine optimization strategies so that when people Google you, the incriminating photos show up as far down on the list as possible. “When you publish a lot of neutral to positive content online, it outweighs the negative content and pushes it off the first page of search results,” says Johnstone. So this would be the perfect time to spruce up your LinkedIn page, finally join Google+, and test recipes for that food blog you’ve been meaning to start.
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