Social Democrats take down photos of protestors posted on internet

The Social Democrats have taken down snapshots of opponents at their political rallies that were posted on the party’s website, awaiting a decision by the Office for Personal Data Protection. The party posted the photos, it said earlier, to determine whether protestors appeared at different rallies across the country – an indication they might be professionally organised by a rival political party. In posting the photos, the Social Democrats, however, may have breached individuals’ right to privacy; the chairman of the Office for Private Data Protection, Igor Němec, said that no political party could post such pictures without individuals’ consent. An official decision on the case is expected to be reached by his bureau within a week.

Meanwhile, critics of the Social Democrats have hit back with a Face Book campaign, showing pictures of themselves with their middle finger raised. Last year on several occasions Social Democrat representatives at rallies were pelted with eggs.