Citizens Using Mobile Toilets Being Live-Streamed

The situation of citizens being live-streamed while using mobile toilets does exist, which infringes upon their privacy rights, and the relevant responsible parties need to bear corresponding responsibilities.

Infringement of Privacy Rights

There have been reports of a woman in Henan capturing an embarrassing scene of citizens being 'live-streamed' while using mobile toilets. The upper part of the toilet had transparent windows without any遮挡 (obstruction/cover), making it easy for people outside to see citizens' actions such as pulling up their pants and adjusting their clothes while using the toilet. Moreover, there were many people waiting outside the toilet at that time. According to Article 110 of the Civil Code, natural persons enjoy privacy rights; Article 1032, paragraph 2, stipulates that privacy refers to the tranquility of a natural person's private life and private spaces, activities, and information that they do not wish to be known by others. No organization or individual may infringe upon the privacy rights of others by means of snooping, harassment, disclosure, or publicizing. The transparent public toilet exposes citizens' private activities of using the toilet, clearly infringing upon their privacy rights.

Liability for Infringement

If the privacy rights of toilet users are infringed upon due to inadequate toilet facilities, especially if they suffer mental harm, the infringed individuals or their close relatives may file a claim for mental damages compensation with the court. The management party of the public toilet, as the administrator, should assume corresponding management obligations regarding the safety and privacy of the toilet during use. If the public toilet management party fails to fulfill its reasonable management responsibilities, resulting in the rights of toilet users being infringed upon, such as privacy leakage due to the lack of obstruction on the transparent windows of the toilet, then the public toilet management party should bear civil liability for compensation. This method of liability assumption aims to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of citizens and prompt the public toilet management party to strengthen the maintenance and management of public toilet facilities, ensuring that citizens can enjoy their due privacy and safety when using public toilets.