Snapchat photo costs man Dh25,000 in privacy case

Abu Dhabi: A man in Abu Dhabi has been ordered to pay Dh25,000 in compensation to another man after finding that he had photographed him in a public place without consent and published the images on Snapchat, violating his privacy.

The ruling was issued by the Abu Dhabi Family, Civil and Administrative Cases Court, which held that the defendant’s actions caused both material and moral harm to the claimant.

According to Emarat Al Youm, the claimant filed a civil lawsuit seeking Dh50,000 in damages, arguing that the unauthorised filming and publication had infringed his privacy and subjected him to embarrassment, suspicion and reputational harm within his workplace and among relatives and peers. He also requested that court fees and legal costs be imposed on the defendant.

The claimant told the court that the defendant had filmed him in a public setting while he was handling financial transactions, without his knowledge or approval, and later shared the footage on Snapchat. Criminal proceedings were subsequently initiated, resulting in a conviction.

The court noted that, in the criminal case, the defendant was found guilty and fined Dh20,000, ordered to have his Snapchat account deleted, and barred from using information networks for six months. That judgment became final and unappealable.

In its reasoning, the civil court said the defendant’s fault had been firmly established by the criminal conviction and that his conduct had caused harm to the claimant.

The court assessed the appropriate compensation at Dh5,000 in addition to the Dh20,000 already awarded as temporary compensation by the criminal court, bringing the total compensation to Dh25,000.