Recently, a family having dinner in a restaurant in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, was webcast against its will by the restaurant which is popular on the Internet. Discovering what the restaurant was doing, the family protested, but the restaurant ignored their objection and believed that it had the right to do so. It even tried to silence the family, claiming that their squabbles would damage the broadcast and the restaurant's image. The incident has triggered a debate on the infringement of privacy and portrait rights by webcasts.

Some people don't care if their images are secretly captured by cameras and broadcast live by this or that platform. They might even enjoy appearing on video screens and cooperate with businesses. In this way, the restaurant can boost its image and attract more customers, which is their purpose in making the webcast. However, there are others like the family in Xi'an who don't like it. They believed that their portrait rights were violated since they had not been asked for permission beforehand. They could not accept that their actions, sometimes not so decent, during dinner were exposed to millions of viewers, and thus asked for an apology from the restaurant.

Webcasting a person without his or her consent amounts to an infringement of portrait and privacy rights, which is becoming increasingly common nowadays because of the popularization of cellphone webcasting, which is technically easier. More efforts are needed to ensure the sustainable development of webcasting while safeguarding individuals' legitimate rights like portrait and privacy rights.

Awareness of privacy

Yuan Guangkuo (Yangcheng Evening News): Nowadays, webcast is no longer a simple entertainment activity, but is intertwined with commercial activities. Some restaurants webcast the way people dine to attract more customers. Some gyms webcast how female customers do exercises as a means of advertising.

However, in most cases, customers don't know they are the target of a webcast, and only the businesses know what is going on. Customers are unknowingly acting as extras, helping to promote the business. If they knew they were being used for a webcast, most customers would reject it.

When eating or even resting, people may behave in a relaxed manner which they don't want others to see. Thus, from a legal perspective, if businesses do a webcast of customers for commercial purposes, they have violated customers' portrait rights.

While webcasts are becoming common, the public's awareness about privacy protection is still lagging behind. Like the above-mentioned family, when privacy is breached, people should bravely oppose it and if necessary, take legal action to safeguard their legitimate rights. If more and more people do so, businesses will exercise restraint in trying to benefit through webcast at the cost of customers' privacy.

Pang Sheng (People's Daily): There could be hidden cameras anywhere, like in restaurants and gyms, waiting to capture your image, pretty or ugly, to be webcast for Internet users. But webcasting what's happening in a public arena around the clock is unacceptable to the public.

Strictly speaking, webcast is not just a technical process; it also touches upon people's rights to privacy and portrait. The growth of webcast is gradually blurring the distinction between public and private space. Exposing individuals' privacy to the public through webcast is now becoming a common method to attract viewers.

However, webcasting people who are totally unaware of what's happening can be considered a violation of individuals' portrait rights. If restaurants or other businesses do want to use people's portraits for commercial purposes, they must first obtain permission from the people concerned. Some experts argue that even if the webcast is not intended for making money, the targeted person should be consulted ahead of time if the webcast is going to affect his privacy, personal image, etc.

Using online publicity to attract more customers is understandable, but the precondition is that website operators must not hurt others' legitimate rights. Webcast platforms must also take responsibility for effective management. If webcast accounts are found to be violating individuals' privacy, sometimes it's necessary to shut down or even ban the account.

Installing legal threshold

Yang Yulong (Economic Daily): Webcast puts privacy at risk. According to the law, people's portraits are prohibited from being used for commercial purposes without their permission. Therefore, webcasting a person eating in a restaurant without telling the person undoubtedly involves an infringement on their portrait rights. In most cases, individuals are entirely kept in the dark while their images are uploaded onto the Internet and exposed to millions for commercial use.

Businesses aim to popularize their brands by webcasting what's happening within their establishment, but while doing so, they must also respect people's portrait rights. Meanwhile, live streaming platforms should also step up scrutiny of webcast content. Relevant authorities should try to standardize webcasting. It is equally important that consumers enhance their awareness about safeguarding their portrait rights. They have the right to ask businesses to stop illicit behavior and apologize or even compensate them for their loss. If they are confronted by those who webcast them, they can also approach the relevant authorities for help.

Xia Fan (Guangzhou Daily): Imagine this situation: You are devouring food, or talking casually to your family or friends, but what you are doing is being captured by a camera and being uploaded online for millions to view and comment on. How would you feel about it?

Webcast has become fashionable in recent years, bringing joy and also a means of making money for many people. At the same time, it has brought annoyance to others. The most striking problem is privacy infringement. Cameras are installed widely, and you don't know when you will become an extra on a certain screen, or even a "stage property" for some people to make a profit.

How to cope with this problem then? As for customers, it's best to say no to secret webcasting to safeguard their portrait rights. As for restaurants, it's not that they are not allowed to webcast their customers, but they must first let the customers know what's going on. They must always keep in mind the necessity to protect customers' privacy.

Today, there are tougher laws on the violation of privacy, but individual privacy is also confronted with unprecedented risks and challenges. Cameras at home are easily remotely controlled and all kinds of intelligent home appliances are believed to be exposing personal information. Dining in restaurants is likely to be webcast. It's predicted that in the future, more and more incidents of breach of privacy will crop up, and the tussle between infringement and protection of privacy and portrait rights will last for a long time.

It's thus important to clarify what kinds of actions violate portrait rights and how it should be punished. Society should also enhance awareness about privacy protection, so that it is not abused by advanced technology.

Lian Xi (people.com.cn): Webcast offers people a platform to showcase their talent. As long as one is good at a certain skill, whether it's dancing, singing or cooking, one can always attract fans and money through this medium. Webcast is a stage for some people to realize their dreams and also provides them with the chance to become an Internet celebrity. It's no exaggeration to say that webcast is an irresistible trend in the era of the Internet.

However, this sector should also set some rules amid its rapid growth. Webcast must get rid of the disorderly way of operation, or the sector itself will face setbacks.

No one would like to be webcast against their will or become a tool for others to make big profits. Webcasting individuals without their consent is not only a violation of their privacy and portrait rights, but it can also cause material damage to those who are webcast after their images and actions are exposed to millions of strangers.

If privacy and portrait rights infringement by webcast is not reined in, this will not only do harm to individuals who are targeted by restaurants or other businesses, but also the webcast platforms themselves, damaging their credibility. The growth of any sector is based on a sense of responsibility and standards, without which it cannot achieve healthy development.

Copyedited by Madhusudan Chaubey