Page 117 - Q&A

Can your ex-spouse circulate
your private information?

October 2020
“My ex-husband still has access to our shared cloud account. Unbeknown to
me this meant he could see all my back-ups of messages, photos and other
personal information. Our divorce did not end well and he is now sharing
private and personal information of me with third parties to embarrass me and
to try and portray me as a bad parent. What can I do to stop him?”
An option available for you to stop your ex-husband would be to obtain an
interdict against him to stop him from further circulating private information
about you. Depending on the nature of the information disseminated, and the
specific details of your case a claim for damages may also be possible.
Everyone has the right to dignity and privacy and to have such respected
and protected against violations, which includes the right to not have your
personal communication infringed. As such our courts have held that private
information obtained or accessed by an ex-spouse and shared with the
intention to harm, humiliate or bring disrepute would infringe on these rights
and as such an ex-spouse can be interdicted from copying, using, sharing,
disseminating, distributing and/or publishing the applicants private and
confidential information.

Another available option could also be to approach the Domestic Violence
Court for a protection order against an ex-spouse if the use of such unlawfully
gained private information is intended to harass and intimidate the ex-spouse.

From the above it should be clear that you have remedies and that such
conduct can be stopped. Make contact with your attorney or family
law specialist to discuss the various options available to you to stop the
unwanted conduct.

110 Family