Man of Honour
Taking public photos/videos of people in a public place?
- Thread starter jsmoke
- Start date
Soldato
It's a jsmoke thread... God only knows who/what he wants to take photos of...
Soldato
We had a guy from the bbc filming through the windows of the salon a few months back so i went out to question him and i mean camera right up against the window not from a distance.
he said he was completely in his right, but i replied saying I don't care clients were feeling uncomfortable so could you stop, he showed me his BBC press card (it was legit we ended up on tele) and I told him I don't care if it was legal or not we do not want the clients feeling uncomfortable in the salon.
he said he would stop and i walked back in and he continued, at this point I got irate and told him if he didn't go away I would shove the camera where the sun doesn't shine.
whats the view on this? is it legal or not?
he said he was completely in his right, but i replied saying I don't care clients were feeling uncomfortable so could you stop, he showed me his BBC press card (it was legit we ended up on tele) and I told him I don't care if it was legal or not we do not want the clients feeling uncomfortable in the salon.
he said he would stop and i walked back in and he continued, at this point I got irate and told him if he didn't go away I would shove the camera where the sun doesn't shine.
whats the view on this? is it legal or not?
Soldato
- Joined
- 18 Oct 2012
- Posts
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Surely this is a common sense thing. Eg;
Taking a photo of a public landmark in a public place in which there just happens to be folk in the background is fine.
Sitting next to a kiddies play park all day with a high zoom lense is not fine.
If someone asks you to delete a pic because theyre in it, delete it and take another without them in it.
Taking a photo of a public landmark in a public place in which there just happens to be folk in the background is fine.
Sitting next to a kiddies play park all day with a high zoom lense is not fine.
If someone asks you to delete a pic because theyre in it, delete it and take another without them in it.
Man of Honour
Take all the photos of children you like, by all means 
When he said "I'm within my rights" you should have replied with "I'm within my rights to protect these persons rights to privacy" and drag him away from the area by the scruff of his neck.
As long as you properly give him notice of what will happen and use reasonable force, there is nothing he can do.
Believe it or not, anyone can protect theirs and others rights, it's not just the policy brigade who have the authority to do it.
Man of Honour
Err no. You have no right to "protect these persons right to privacy". He ultimately isn't doing anything unlawful and you would be committing assault.
Please read up on the law before posting any more clearly uneducated posts.
Soldato
Perfectly legal. Close the blinds if you don't like it.
If you want him to stop then you are going to have to be far nicer, with that kind if attitude he is under no incentivie to stop.
That is called assault.
Soldato
when i asked him to stop originally i was fairly polite, im sure if he would have came in and explained what he was doing then fine, its the fact this creepy old man was just standing at the window filming people having their hair cut.
it was when he carried on i got angry.
does that mean you can go up to someones window and film them watching tv and its fine?
You mean a BBC employee with a press card.
How many times have you seen segments on the news with customers going about their business in restaurants, coffee shops and so on in the background? I think you over-reacted. As somebody pointed out earlier, you could have closed the blinds or put a sign in the window to ruin his shot.
It might have been nice if he talked to you first but often it's the case that you simply don't want the people you are filming to pay attention to you, you want to capture them going about their daily lives. You also have to factor that as a BBC employee he was just doing his job, no doubt he didn't want to be there any more than you wanted him to be there but his boss tasked him with getting such footage.
When you got angry, that is when you lost the argument and likely provoked him to stay longer TBH.
If you go up to someone's house and look through their window then you are in most cases trespassing on private property and would need permission to film.
If you are on public property filming then from a photographic perspective it is perfectly legal. However, other laws may deem it illegal depending on the circumstances, but the photography would not be the issue itself. It is also illegal to watch people in their own homes with a pair of binoculars under certain circumstances.
If their window directly borders public land (ie a terraced house with no garden/yard) then yeah, legally you could. If you have to stand in their garden to do it then you're no longer on public land and you're trespassing.
Man of Honour
If they carry on a course of conduct, they could be committing harassment, but as a one off, like you say, there is little that can be done if they're in a public place.
Let me get this straight.. If you're on public land but taking photos/spying into private property, there's no law that stops you doing that? Seriously? That does not seem right 
At the very least surely it can be construed as voyeurism, harassment etc? I honestly can't believe kaptainmarc's example? Although maybe because it is a shop it is classed as 'public place' ?
At the very least surely it can be construed as voyeurism, harassment etc? I honestly can't believe kaptainmarc's example? Although maybe because it is a shop it is classed as 'public place' ?
Man of Honour
Soldato
Let me get this straight.. If you're on public land but taking photos/spying into private property, there's no law that stops you doing that? Seriously? That does not seem right
At the very least surely it can be construed as voyeurism, harassment etc? I honestly can't believe kaptainmarc's example? Although maybe because it is a shop it is classed as 'public place' ?
It's really not that complicated. And you're confusing yourself with public and private land; a shop is entirely private land.
And yes, it could be harassment or voyeurism, but as has been said a few times that's irrelevant of a camera being involved.
Man of Honour
It can be quite complicated though, as private land can be a public place.