A Taipei resident surnamed Chen (陳) has been let off the hook for sharing a photograph of a “hot girl” on the Taipei MRT, after a woman pictured in the background tried to sue him for invasion of privacy.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily reported earlier last week that Chen took the photograph of a young woman who he said looks like Japanese adult video star Yui Hatano.
Sitting on the dark blue seats reserved for elderly and infirm passengers behind the purported Hatano look-alike was a woman looking at the camera, surnamed Hsiao (蕭), who was not at all happy about her likeness circulating online — even though she was not the subject of the image — and was further incensed by Web users who called her an “old lady.”
Prosecutors dismissed Hsiao’s lawsuit, saying Chen was within his legal rights to take a photograph in a public place, no matter how “creepy” it might seem, and he did not share personal information about the plaintiff when circulating the image.
Chen and the friend who posted the image on his behalf might be breathing a sigh of relief, but the object of the photographer’s attention is still very angry.
“Nobody would be happy to hear [that] she looks like an adult film star,” said a woman surnamed Yang (楊), who identified herself to the newspaper as the young woman who caught Chen’s attention.
“When [the image] was uploaded last year, it was a difficult time for me, and my husband was livid. We asked PTT to take the picture down,” she said, referring to the enormously popular forum frequented by university students.
Chen’s post had asked PTT users, well-known for their online sleuthing prowess, to identify Yang and find her contact info.
Prosecutors said that while it is legal to take pictures in public and share them online, victims of wandering cameras can sue for compensation — but only if they can provide evidence that the dissemination of the photograph created difficulties or caused emotional stress.
Public area photographs are legal as long as they serve a public interest.
Since Chen’s interest in Yang was decidedly private, she was able to demand the photograph’s removal based on her right to control the use of her image.
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