Every child needs to have their fundamental rights protected and respected, even in death. This point is supported by the Child Abuse and Protection Act (Capta), which instructs agencies to ensure that an abused or neglected child's privacy is well kept to protect the child's privacy rights.

This act doesn't have to apply only when the abused or neglected child is alive, meaning no child service or agency's records about a deceased abused child should be made public regardless of the reason.

A recent case in Kansas involved a small 3-year-old girl who died as a result of child abuse by her guardians, as reported by news outlets. The name of the small girl was Olivia Jansen. After Olivia’s death, the Department for Children and Family (DCF) jumped into an investigation to determine the cause after she was found buried in a shallow grave.

The DCF reported that the cause of death was physical abuse from her injuries. According to a law passed in 2018, the Department of Children and Families must make public details about the child's death after concluding that the child's death is a result of Neglect or Abuse.

The child must have already suffered enough while alive, and their privacy need not be tossed away like it doesn’t matter. The deceased child's caring family would be going through a hard enough time as it is, and making child service records about the child's death public would likely affect them negatively.

While alive, everyone has the right to privacy. That privacy should also be respected at death, especially if the child passes away because of cruel circumstances like neglect or abuse. Releasing a child’s private information to the public should be banned.