Q. A video of a somewhat elderly woman doing kapparot with a chicken for her two dogs went viral, and many people kept on re-sending to their friends. The woman seems to be unaware that someone is recording her. Was it permitted on the beginning to record her without her knowledge and consent? And can someone, after it became so publicized, send it again to others?
A. Horav Shlomo Miller’s Shlit’a opinion is that not only it was prohibited for the initiator to place the video on the internet without the informed consent of the person being recorded, but it is also a transgression to further forward the video to others, even when it has already been widely publicized and spread on the web. The reason is that one further creates additional embarrassment and shame every time someone else becomes aware of the humiliating act recorded.
The fact that it is increasingly more common to be recorded when on public property, does not provide a heter or give permission in the eyes of Halacha, to publicize the filmed event.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as Revised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit”a
Important Numbers
