The hell of exposing your privacy without permission: What rights do you have if a sex video of yours is leaked?

Every year in Spain, hundreds of people suffer intimate videos or recordings that end up circulating without their permission. The official figure is 859 complaints filed by the Ministry of the Interior for the dissemination of sexual videos without consent.

The law already punishes this behavior. But the damage remains, non-consensual exposure leaves its mark, and many victims still haven't seen a swift or sufficient response from the justice system, platforms, or the community.

From intimacy to the digital showcase

What begins as a private recording, consensual or not, can take a turn: when someone decides to share it without permission, the life of the person appearing in it changes. There's no longer any control. Either because a third party received it, or because it was shared by an ex-partner, or because it was widely forwarded.

The Spanish penal reform explicitly included this type of conduct in article 197.7 of the Penal Code : "Disclosing, revealing or transferring to third parties images or audiovisual recordings of a person that have been obtained with their consent for their private use, when the disclosure seriously undermines that person's personal privacy."

The penalties can range from 3 months to 5 years in prison , depending on the severity of the case.

However, it is worth noting that shame, fear, and personal blockage cause many victims to "remain silent or pay to stop the pressure or remove the video in which they appear ," according to Hervé Lambert, Global Consumer Operations Manager at Panda Security .

70% of the victims are women and girls

Seventy percent of the cases reported to the Spanish Data Protection Agency's (AEPD) Priority Channel involve women. Behind this figure are girls, adolescents, and adults who have seen their privacy turned into a public spectacle without their consent. This figure is not anecdotal: it shows the extent to which digital violence is gendered , and how online environments reproduce the same patterns of inequality that exist off-screen.

Since its creation in 2019, this channel—an urgent means of requesting the removal of sexual or violent content disseminated without permission—has handled thousands of requests, many of them related to the publication or reposting of intimate videos. According to the AEPD, most of the cases involve sexual content shared by ex-partners, acquaintances, or strangers who, with a single click, amplify the damage.

The organization warns that unconsensual exposure not only violates the right to privacy and one's image, but also has a "serious and lasting" psychological impact, especially on younger victims. For them, dissemination often leads to bullying, social isolation, and symptoms of anxiety or depression , consequences that go far beyond the screen.

The president of the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD), Mar España, has repeatedly stated that the Priority Channel is "an effective tool for swift action," but she has also emphasized the need to strengthen prevention, digital education, and emotional support for victims. Because even if the video or photograph can be deleted, the digital footprint and emotional damage remain .

What rights do you have?

When someone distributes an intimate video without your consent, you have several legal and technical tools at your disposal:

However, experts warn that having "the right" and achieving "redress or removal" don't always go hand in hand. And, although the AEPD reports an 86% effectiveness rate in removing content reported via injunctions, there is still a margin of delay, re-exposure, and, above all, side effects .

This is how the Panda Security expert sums it up: “The victim is not defenseless… there are rights that must be claimed to stop the reputational and psychological damage as quickly as possible, and to recover, as much as possible, normality.”

And he adds: "The plan is to not pay," "take screenshots," "gather evidence, and demand an urgent withdrawal."

The victim's experience: a trace beyond the archive

Imagine opening your phone and discovering an intimate video appearing in a messaging group or circulating on social media. The initial shock quickly gives way to a complex reality: the loss of control over your image, your privacy, and your surroundings.

The feeling that "there's no turning back" is common . Because even if you report, even if the law protects you, even if the AEPD has a channel, the replies continue, the copies remain, the echoes return. And with them, the anguish, the guilt (imposed or self-imposed), the difficulty in rebuilding.

In many cases, victims speak of isolation, of the fear that "everyone has seen it," of the paralysis of their social or professional lives.

Society and culture are also part of the problem. Questions like "Why did you record it?" and "Why did you send it to him?" are often raised, when the important thing is that you didn't authorize it to be made public . And social pressure, especially on women, multiplies the damage.

“ As long as the victim is pointed at instead of the aggressor , and this crime is trivialized in chats and forums, these types of privacy violations will continue to occur,” reflects Lambert, who believes that “ more digital literacy and private sexuality campaigns are needed , as well as style guides for the press and protocols in workplaces and schools .”

Not only that: "There is still an uneven response to detection and removal on platforms." And he believes that "visible high-priority routes (DSA), one-time identity verification for multiple removals, fingerprint hashing, and sanctions for repeat offenders" should be regularized.