Los derechos de la personalidad del menor de edad en la era digital. La dicotomía entre autonomía y protección

Zusammenfassung

This chapter aims to analyse a particularly relevant topic in the present century, derived from the use of new information and communication technologies by minors. Strictly speaking, access to new technologies for minors is viewed as an emerging right that enables them to be active and participatory subjects in the information society and enables them to fulfil their needs for information and expression. In other words, it allows them to be fully fledged citizens. The rights of minors as stipulated in Article 5.1 of Spain’s legislation governing the Legal Protection of Children includes “digital and media literacy in a manner adapted to their developmental capacity”, so that minors can develop their critical thinking and play an active part in a participatory society and in a current world that cannot be understood outside of new information and communication technologies. However, even though the use of new technologies offers great possibilities and advantages, we cannot ignore the fact that they situate us within the so-called risk society, since they can involve multiple situations that are not always controllable. In this regard, of particular importance is the potential violation of the privacy of minors, that is, of their fundamental rights to privacy, honour, their own image, and the protection of personal data, either individually or jointly.