Disclosure of images taken at a private event are considered a privacy breach.

The facts of the case are as follows. A group of friends hired a public figure to perform a show with sexual content during the plaintiff´s bachelor party. This public figure captured, during the event, images, and videos of the plaintiff with his cell phone, which were then published on social networks. Said content was then disclosed by four media companies. The plaintiff sued for damages.

The court of first instance argued that the publication of personal data referring to a private person, without his/her consent, violates the right to privacy and the right to not be publicly exposed, and therefore ordered the defendants to pay a compensation. The four media companies appealed.

Likewise, the National Civil Court of Appeals confirmed the first instance decision, making a balance between, the right to personal dignity, privacy and image of the plaintiff and, on the other hand, the defendants' right to freedom of speech, concluding that the defendants intruded into the plaintiff's private sphere, disclosing images without his consent. In this sense, it considered that when no cause of justification applies such as -for example- the public interest, then there is an infringement to the honor, privacy, and a person’s image.