Abstract
This Comment begins with one family’s story of its experience with social media that many others can relate to in today’s ever-growing world of technology and the Internet. Technology has made it possible for a person’s online presence to grow exponentially through continuous sharing by other Internet users. This ability to communicate and share information amongst family, friends, and strangers all over the world, while beneficial in some regard, comes with its privacy downfalls. The risks to privacy are elevated when children’s information is being revealed, which often stems from a child’s own parents conduct online. Parents all over the world are creating their children’s digital identities before these children even have the chance to develop them on their own. And other safety issues are often overlooked, such as those relating to online pedophiles and identity theft. This Comment argues the need for a legislative solution in the United States incentivizing adults to restrict the types of information that they choose to disclose online. However, such legislation must consider First Amendment hurdles and incorporate realistic and unambiguous restrictions, which are based in tort law and provide for a private right of action that can ultimately serve the specific purpose of protecting children’s privacy until reaching an age when they can do so themselves.
Recommended Citation
Kate Hamming, A Dangerous Inheritance: A Child’s Digital Identity, 43 SEATTLE U. L. REV. 1033 (2020).
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Civil Law Commons, Communications Law Commons, Computer Law Commons, Consumer Protection Law Commons, Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons, Family Law Commons, First Amendment Commons, Internet Law Commons, Jurisprudence Commons, Juvenile Law Commons, Law and Society Commons, Legal Education Commons, Legal Remedies Commons, Legislation Commons, Privacy Law Commons, Science and Technology Law Commons
