The aim of this action by the Ministry and the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) is to disseminate among citizens the steps to follow in the event of being affected by identity theft on social networks.
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The Ministry of Consumer Affairs and the AEPD has launched a campaign on social networks to disseminate among the public the steps to follow if they suffer identity theft on these services.
In Spain, according to the latest INE study on Internet use, 70.9% of men and 66.8% of women aged between 16 and 74 have participated in social networks in the last three months. This means that, if they have a profile, it includes data such as their name, photographs and other personal information. This allows them to keep in touch with friends and acquaintances or to help create a professional public profile, but the information they voluntarily provide on different internet services can be used by third parties to impersonate them.
The campaign details the steps to be taken to remove the fake profile as quickly as possible, for which it is first necessary to contact the social network using the forms provided for this purpose:
Facebook: report an account impersonating you, stolen accounts and how to report them.
Google: report an impersonation.
Twitter: report identity theft.
Instagram: what to do if someone is impersonating you.
Tik Tok: report a user.
If the response you receive from the social network is not satisfactory, you can file a complaint with the Spanish Data Protection Agency through the e-Office, accompanied by documentation of having contacted the company in the first place.
What if someone publishes sexual or violent content in which I appear?
The Priority Channel of the Spanish Data Protection Agency offers a fast and free way to report the illegitimate publication on the Internet of sensitive, sexual or violent content. Due to the particular seriousness of these situations, it is not necessary to first contact the website or social network on which they are published.
Requests for the removal of photographs, videos or audios of sexual or violent content disseminated on the Internet without the consent of the person concerned can be made through this link, while in the case of minors under 18 years of age, the Agency has set up a specific contact form to report the dissemination of this type of content.