Live-streams from schools taken offline

More than 30 live-streams have been removed from an online platform after media reported that hundreds of video feeds from schools' classrooms, playgrounds, cafeteria and even dormitories around the country were accessible to the public, which was criticized for invasion of privacy.

The live-streams have been taken off from Shuidi Live, a platform under Qihoo 360 Technology Co as of Wednesday, thepaper.cn reported.

However, the service still has more than 200 feeds of broadcasts from classrooms of kindergartens to high schools around the country. Any Net user could view these videos without any limitation.

"Shuidi Live requires users to state that they voluntarily agree to make their live-streams public, and that the content does not involve privacy or violate the law," said an employee from Shuidi Live.

The platform also suggested schools to use the non-public "kindergarten mode," in which live-streams could only be viewed through a QR code shared by teachers, if parents want better protection of their children's privacy.

However, Deng Xueping, a lawyer from Jingheng Law Firm, said that barely anyone would be willing to stream the details of his life on the Internet casually, except in the TV shows, thepaper.cn reported.

"Every person in the camera should give his or her consent to the live-streaming," Deng said, adding that for those who do not obtain the permission or verification, the schools could take administrative action for violation of law.