Owl Content

The European Court of Human Rights is to decide on the complaint of a victim of identity theft (Application Number 2872/02).

In 1999, an unidentified person published an advertisement for a homosexual relationship under the name of the applicant, a then 12 year old boy. The offender was not prosecuted because national law limited access to IP addresses to serious crime.

The applicant is complaining before the European Court of Human Rights that he had not had an effective remedy under national law to discover the identity of the perpetrator. On 27 June 2006 the Court ruled the complaint to be admissible as it raised serious issues of fact and law under the Convention and was not manifestly ill-founded.

An amicus curiae brief has now been submitted to the Court, pointing out that the outcome of the case could have far-reaching effects on the privacy of all European Internet users. A ruling requiring Contracting States to provide for the traceability of communications would have very serious consequences on user privacy.

According to the brief, freedom of expression on the Internet is protected under Article 10 of the Convention. The privacy of communications is protected under Article 8 of the Convention. „Considering the importance of those freedoms and the fact that their benefits by far outweigh the damage caused by their abuse, the Convention requires the creation of effective mechanisms for having illegal content on the Internet removed, but does not require traceability of Internet publishers or users.“

The brief is available on-line for more details. The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights is already involved in the case.

See also:

• IT Law in Ireland: European Court of Human Rights to hear case on whether online victims have a right to identify internet users (3 October 2008)