Regarding photos in public places

But her OP referred to establishments/businesses. Which are very different.

Local village Remebrance day ceremony, entrance to beach area, many streets in big towns.

People can be more considerate

It really is!!

You don't always know that an event is being live streamed, they don't always tell you .

I understand there are venues/events that live stream a dancefloor or similar focal point, there are also live streaming webcams for various places, landmarks etc (theres one at the most southerly point of the US which is fun to watch in storms as people rush out close to waves to get a photo!)...

But for some abuser to be watching these cams and live streams, they would need to know where/when you'd be there in order to find you.

Otherwise its not just 'needle in a haystack' but more like 1 needle in thousands of haystacks. You think abusers are checking every possible live streaming cam and venue in a particular county, or country? That would be impossible.

You could just email/call a venue before you attend an event to find out if they're live streaming it and where the cameras are and then decide if you want to go?

In any case, inside a venue is not a public place, so changing the law on photos/videos in a public place would make absolutely no odds (not that it'd be possible or even advisable).

No. This really isn’t necessary.

I understand the fear of being tracked down and the need to safeguard children. The additional stress of not being able to control your privacy must be huge OP. I feel for you.

I guess it must be most likely to be dangerous in situations where people have simply left their abusive partner, but have not done a full relocation, supported by police, to another region or county. This must be far the most likely situation that happens most often. OP is right, there are ways they could be tracked down by public images.

For example even if I had my children move school but my ex knew the family were still in the area, and was an unhinged nutter trying to track me down, it's not beyond belief that he might sit at his computer and search all social media of recent local events suitable for families and children of the age of our kids during the weekend or holiday - lights switching on, village funfairs, new attractions opening. It's still kind of unlikely he would find us that way but it would add massive fear to the victim's life.

I do think local businesses could be asked to share non identifiable pictures only. You can show the happy crowd at your fireworks or the audience at the dog show with a little blur on the lenses. That wouldn't hurt. Many businesses are already recognising they shouldn't show loads of identifiable images of children and voluntarily adding blur or stickers.

In the future AI image searches will get even better so people will be able to purchase software that scrapes all public video and matches it to a picture of someone you want to find. It is scary.

Yes this happens all the time. Only the other day I saw pictures of me and my children on a business’s instagram page which came up on my feed. We had been to a birthday party and the business in question had provided the entertainment, and then proceeded to photograph us and use the pictures as advertising, targeting people from the area on instagram.

People are allowed to enjoy watching an event they can’t attend in person though?

I've relocated due to domestic abuse and I don't spend my life in hiding, I still go out to the normal places that I would, including events where I've been notified that filming and photography takes place. The likelihood of exP happening to view a photo that I happened to be in, and even recognising my face in the blurry crowd is unfeasibly low (I look very different to how I looked when I left him), and even if he did, it would only tell him that I was there on that day, and most of the videos and photos are released after the event, so he wouldn't be able to find me there. Even for a live event, it's extremely unlikely that he'd be be able to suddenly travel there and find me before it ended.

This hypothetical “someone” probably doesn’t read the small print.

Every time I’ve been to an event recently, the promo or booking page has clearly stated that there will be filming and photography and to inform the organisers if you want to make sure you don’t appear so they can seat you somewhere suitable or not post anything you appear in. I imagined it was pretty standard.

No, I’d say people who are trying to hide their identify should probably be careful going to large events that are going to be filmed. This doesn’t stop you from living your everyday life.

Right, so thousands of people around the world can’t watch live sessions from a comic con, or a sports conference, or a genealogy conference, or whatever just because a hypothetical someone might be spotted? Nah.

I was always under the impression that a large proportion of these poor women were often moved out of the town and away from the abuser. So how would the abuser know which nightclub/pub to look at their socials?

While am afraid you can't stop photography and live streaming I do think the UK is just rubbish at taking abuse seriously.

If I had relocated due to domestic violence and was terrified of being identified, I would probably avoid village events like ‘turning on the lights’ if I thought it was going to be put on Facebook.

It would have to someone with a good idea of where you lived to start following every little local group though.

Lectures and talks are streamed all the time.

To those saying they have never been to an event that was live streamed you probably wouldn't know. It will be done by one person with a mobile phone and just look like someone videoing. For example my village christmas lights switch on is always live streamed, so is the duck race. Go onto facebook and search livestreams, I think you will be surprised.

But you still haven't really given an example of what events you are talking about. So people can't really engage because we sdon't know what you mean. "Events that are live streamed" could be anything. Could you please give a concrete example of the sort of place that you think is a safety risk.

I do!
Not in my local Costa though, or the local tiny Italian restaurant. Or curry house.

I understand the concern, but don’t think it needs to prevent any and all outings. Just needs careful consideration of the venues.