An Atlanta-area teen is suing her former school district for using a Facebook photo of her in a bikini as part of a student seminar on the importance of exercising caution when uploading photos to the web.
Chelsea Chaney, now a college freshman, says the Fayette County Schools Director of Technology found the photo on her Facebook page, and used it in a district-wide Internet safety seminar to illustrate the maxim "once it's there, it's there to stay."
Having apparently left the seminar hall before the director had a chance to explain the Streisand effect, Chaney decided to take her story to the local ABC affiliate WSB-TV, which proceeded to air a two-minute excuse to show Chaney in a bikini standing next to a cut-out of the artist formerly known as Snoop Dogg.
"I was embarrassed. I was horrified," Chaney told Channel 2's Action News. "It never crossed my mind that this would ever, ever happen to me."
Chaney's lawyer Pete Wellborn told the station he believes the director broke several laws, including "Federal law, state law, and violations of the United States Constitution."
The district used the photo "out of context to suggest that Chelsea is a promiscuous, abuser of alcohol," the attorney said.
Wellborn is helping Chaney sue the district for $2 million. Why so much? Because "she wants her claim to be taken seriously," according to Channel 2.
A spokesman for the district said it was unlikely Chaney's case would hold up in court.