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A 'digital-age cautionary tale about privacy' - not romance

Experts in Ireland say it shows that greater awareness around privacy is needed
Experts in Ireland say it shows that greater awareness around privacy is needed

Data privacy experts say social media users must develop greater awareness of their obligations in order to ensure other people's privacy rights are not violated.

It follows complaints by a US woman that her privacy was breached after her interactions with the person she was sitting next to during a flight were tweeted about by a fellow passenger.

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It was billed as a love story, but became a nightmare.

It began when Rosey Blair flew from New York to Texas.

After swapping seats to sit beside her boyfriend, she began eavesdropping on interactions between the woman she swapped with and the man beside her.

In a string of Twitter posts, Ms Blair uploaded photos and videos of a supposed love story she claimed was unfolding between the strangers.

She claimed they were sharing family photos, touching and had left for the bathroom together.

She continued posting after the plane landed.

But after an outcry when the posts went viral, Ms Blair was forced to apologise for her eavesdropping.

Amid the storm, the man she had spied on went public, saying he had enjoyed the warm public reaction but appealed for privacy for the woman he sat beside.

In a video posted on YouTube, Euan Holden said: "Be conscious of other people's feelings because you never know, you never know what's going on in someone else's life. And respect their privacy."


Read More: #PlaneBae: a cautionary tale about privacy, ethics and consent


His appeal was followed by a statement from that still anonymous woman who said she had been "shamed, insulted and harassed" since the incident.

She said voyeurs had come looking for her online and in the real world.

Appealing for privacy, she added that the story was not a romance, but a "digital-age cautionary tale about privacy, identity, ethics and consent".

Experts in Ireland say it shows that greater awareness around privacy is needed.

Dr Kevin Koidl, ADAPT and Department of Computer Science in Trinity College Dublin, said: "If there's any personal identifiable information of you on the web or in any way digitised, then you have the right to reject that this information is made public or you have the right that this information is taken down."

Solicitor Fred Logue of FP Logue said: "I think there has to be limits but I think people need to be more aware of the possibility that what they are saying in public now is going to be recorded or subject to things like that."