EVERYONE is a photographer in the age of social media and smartphones.
But with all this picture-taking leads many people to wonder about their right to privacy.
is it illegal to take pictures of people?
There is no law preventing anyone from taking photographs of people in public.
This includes taking photos of other people’s children.
As the individual has agreed to make themselves in a public space, it is legal.
This is provided that the photograph isn’t indecent and you aren’t harassing the person you’re trying to photograph.
These rules do not apply if you’re taking pictures of members of the armed services, police officers, or members of the intelligence services, due to anti-terrorism laws.
You must be careful when photographing others as it can lead to confrontation.
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
Although there are no laws against taking photos of people in public spaces, social grace and civility are important to consider.
Where is it illegal to take pictures of people?
If the person is in a private setting such as their home, it is illegal to take their photos without their permission.
Some areas you may think of as public are in fact privately owned, such as restaurants, hotels, shopping malls, and even football grounds.
If you don’t have permission to photograph it could be considered trespassing.
And if the person has asked you not to take their photo, capturing it anyway could be considered harassment.
Under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, you can be prosecuted if you are threatening, stalking, intimidating, or causing distress to someone to obtain their photograph.
When it comes to photographing children, UK laws cover indecent images of those under 18.
The law states that “Taking, making, sharing and possessing indecent images and pseudo-photographs of people under 18 is illegal.
“A pseudo-photograph is an image made by computer graphics or otherwise which appears to be a photograph.”
What counts as “indecent” is not defined by legislation but the laws offer some insight on what this means. Read more here.
