October 17, 2016

Lynn Pearce complained to IPSO that the Daily Star Sunday had breached Clause 2 (Privacy) of the Editors’ Code of Practice in an online article headlined “Euro 2016: Swingers hosting couples sex parties to bonk while watching England”, published on 12 June 2016.

The article reported that a swingers’ club was hosting a themed sex party to celebrate England’s participation in the European Championships.  It included an image of a swinging website, where the party was being advertised, with a comment made by one of the site’s members in which she said that she was excited about the forthcoming event.

Ms Pearce expressed concern that the newspaper had accessed a swinging website, which was for paying members only.  She said it had published a screenshot of the site, which had shown her comment on the forthcoming football-themed party, her profile name, where she was from, and her profile photograph, which showed her breasts through a sheer top.  She said that she had a disclaimer on her swinging profile, which stated that no part of it may be taken and published without her permission.  She considered that the swinging website was not well known outside the swinging community, whereas the newspaper’s website would be accessed by far more people.  She said the article had led family members to discover that she was a member of a swinging website.

The newspaper said that the website in question was not a private site; anyone who submitted a name and email address was able to access it; it was not necessary to pay a membership fee.  The complainant had commented on a public forum; she had not used the “private message” option and her profile picture and user ID could be seen by anyone visiting the site.  As for the disclaimer, it considered that its journalist might not have seen the complainant’s entire profile because he had only taken the information that was available on the public forum.  It noted that the complainant’s name and address had not been published and the picture was a “tiny thumbnail”. Although it did not consider that the article had disclosed private information about the complainant, due to the concerns raised, it removed the screen shot of her profile from the article.

The IPSO Committee agreed with the newspaper that anyone who entered a name and email address on the swinging website in question could access Ms Pearce’s profile.  In addition to the image of her wearing a sheer top, Ms Pearce’s profile contained detailed information about her, which most people would consider to be highly private.  However, given Ms Pearce’s own public disclosures of information, she could not argue that she had a reasonable expectation of privacy regarding her profile picture and username.  The article did not identify Ms Pearce by name or disclose any further information about her beyond her forum post indicating her intention to attend the party.  There was no breach of Clause 2.

Although the Committee did not find a breach of the Code, it welcomed the amendment of the article in response to the complaint.  Overall, however, the complaint was not upheld.  (04562-16 Pearce v Daily Star Sunday (19 September 2016) — to read the Decision of the Complaints Committee in full, click here).