Ofcom: BBC news report breached girl's privacy

The BBC's regional news programme, Reporting Scotland, breached the privacy of a 15-year-old girl in a video report, Ofcom has ruled.

The broadcast regulator has upheld a complaint made by the mother of a girl who was filmed at a youth centre in Edinburgh to illustrate a story on youth training reforms.

The footage showed the girl sitting at a computer, and a close-up of the computer screen showing her CV - with her full name, address and mobile number clearly visible. The clip lasted about 12 seconds.

The BBC said it regretted using the footage and offered unreserved apologies to the girl and her mother for the "oversight by the programme makers, who fully accepted that they should have noticed what was on screen and acted to prevent the footage being included in the programme".

It acknowledged that parental consent should have been sought before filming the girl, but said the youth centre was aimed at 16 to 19-year-olds and that "a member of staff had specifically asked all those in the room to confirm that they were of age and that they were content to be filmed".

Ofcom said in its ruling: "Given that [the girl] was under the age of 16 at the time of the broadcast and taking into account the fact that she and the personal details contained in her CV were included unobscured in the footage report, Ofcom considered that she had a legitimate expectation of privacy, in relation to the footage of her and her personal details."

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