Fake account in my name or my business's name: what to do under Georgian law

What to do

1. Immediately: document the fake (URL, ID, dated screenshots), file a complaint with the platform under “impersonation” with a document or trademark certificate, and warn your clients.
2. Personal rights: where a name is used without permission, you may demand that the use stop (Civil Code of Georgia, Art. 18). The same applies to publishing a person's image without consent (Civil Code, Art. 18). Protection applies regardless of the infringer's fault (Civil Code, Art. 18). Where there is fault, compensation for damage is available, including the profit obtained by the infringer (Civil Code, Art. 18). Where there is fault, compensation for moral harm is also available, regardless of property damage (Civil Code, Art. 18).
3. Business: the owner of a registered trademark may prohibit others from offering services under its sign (Law of Georgia on Trademarks, Art. 6). Removal of materials bearing the sign from the internet may be demanded (Art. 45). A court may also order an intermediary whose services were used for the infringement on a commercial scale (Art. 45). An unregistered brand is not a trademark. Remedies are then the name itself, copyright in the logo, and the criminal route.
4. If money is being collected, this is a criminal matter. Fraud, meaning obtaining another person's property or property right by deception, is a crime (Criminal Code of Georgia, Art. 180). Without money, unlawful use of personal data through a social network causing significant harm is a crime (Criminal Code, Art. 157). When filing with the police or prosecutor's office, the applicant is entitled to written confirmation of the filing (Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia, Art. 101). Attach the payment details where money was sent.
5. Personal data: a demand to stop processing and to delete the data must be complied with within 10 working days (Law of Georgia on Personal Data Protection, Art. 16). If refused, the complaint is considered by the State Audit Office, which decides on measures within 10 days, up to 2 months (Art. 50). Identifying the owner of the fake is a matter for an investigation or the court.
6. Where to apply: platform, then the police or prosecutor's office, then the district (city) court. Personal data complaints: State Audit Office (სათეაშო აუდიტის სამსახური).
7. Evidence: URL and ID of the fake, screenshots, messages and payment records from deceived people, trademark certificate.
8. Pitfalls: waiting for a court without complaining to the platform or warning clients. An unregistered name is not a trademark. Personal data complaints are now handled by the State Audit Office, not by the former Personal Data Protection Service.

Be sure to check

• immediate steps: documentation, complaint to the platform, warning clients
• right to name and image: cessation, removal, moral damage (regardless of fault)
• for a business: a registered trademark and removal of materials from the internet
• if money is being collected: a fraud complaint to the police or prosecutor's office