The right to privacy and the disclosure of court hearings on social media

Abstract

Technological developments, the popularization of use and the expansion of the capacity of smartphones have enabled the Judiciary and the general public, especially those involved in legal proceedings, to record procedural acts carried out during hearings in audio and video format. In addition to the lawful act of procedural documentation consisting of recording the hearing, this article analyzed the legality of its dissemination on social networks. To this end, the scope of the principle of publicity and its harmonization with the right to privacy and intimacy were analyzed, in order to preserve the personal data of those involved in the proceedings. In this context, it was necessary to investigate the applicability of the General Data Protection Law to the parties, lawyers and the State-judge, which was done through bibliographic research in scientific databases. The approach adopted was qualitative, exploratory in nature and the method was deductive. In conclusion, it can be stated that there is a need to reinterpret the principle of publicity in order to preserve the privacy of all participants in the process, with regard to personal data, which, consequently, prevents the disclosure of court hearings on social networks.