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AIBU?

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Original poster

Photos in the park.

249 replies

Percyfish3rd · 17/06/2021 16:15

I recently took my 3 year old granddaughter to the park, and took some photos of her on the slide. As we were leaving a woman said "excuse me, I saw you taking some photos, of that little girl. My daughter was in some of them 8n the background. 8 want you to delete the photos. If you don't I' ll call the police, it's illegal to take photos of other peoples children". I pointed out to her it wasn't illegal, and I'd rather keep the photos. Her husband then joined us, and said as I was using a " professional camera" (there is no such thing) he would shove it into a part of my anatomy I won't mention. I decided to delete them, after all they would be easy enough to recover at home, but how many people would have done the same thing as this couple, even though the photos weren't specifically of their child?

OP posts:
Lovemusic33 · 17/06/2021 17:34

It’s not illegal to take photos of other people or their children. I must have 100’s of photos of the dc’s when they were little where other kids were in the background. They sound a little bit crazy, I would have suggested they called the police.

52andblue · 17/06/2021 17:35

@DynamoKev

I’d have been happy for them to call the Police - quite a few forces have issued guidance to officers that photos taken in public places are entirely legal.
They are yes. I was on a Christian pilgrimage with my Dd a couple of years ago. We were walking through a public area but as part of a religious procession. A guy from a photo agency took a pic of my Dd (full face, highly identifiable, only her in the shot). I was not happy - I don't put my kids pics online for a number of reasons and she is clearly autistic too. Last time I looked the pic was for Sale still on a large photographic newsagency site (at a price I can't afford too!)

Having said all that, if someone asked me to delete pics I would without question. They were rude but they may have had good reasons to ask that they didn't want to go into there and then.

Boredoutmymind · 17/06/2021 17:36

You can take a photo of anyone in public. The amount of cctv and dash cam that are we are constantly being photographed.
It is not illegal to take pics of kids.
how many of you will be telling news crews to stop filming or taking images of your kids.
Your kids will most likely be making mischief around this cameras

lastcall · 17/06/2021 17:36

@PurpleDaisies

You should have deleted the photos when they asked.
No she fucking shouldn't have! And I'm glad she stood her ground. The only thing I would have done differently is to tell the woman to go on then, call the police and let them explain the law to her.

Public space. No reasonable expectations of privacy, including protection from being photographed. Grown up taking a photo of her own child/grandchild with others in the background. There is NOTHING wrong with any of that.

lastcall · 17/06/2021 17:38

@PurpleDaisies

Maybe I have spent too much time with children who have very good reasons not to be photographed but I would have immediately deleted the photo and that would have been the end of it.
It's not about photographing those children (and here, inadvertently and probably a blurry blob in the background). It's about then putting those pictures on social media, into newspapers, etc ... which wasn't going to happen here.
Blankspace101 · 17/06/2021 17:39

If they were looking after their daughter properly she wouldn’t be in the background of your photos.

I’d have called the police when he started threatening you. Who know how many other women he is doing this to?

PurpleDaisies · 17/06/2021 17:40

The amount of cctv and dash cam that are we are constantly being photographed.

With respect, that’s not at all the same. CCTV and dashcan footage doesn’t often end up on social media.

RedToothBrush · 17/06/2021 17:42

@PurpleDaisies

It isn’t illegal but surely it’s common courtesy to just delete a photo with a child in it when third parent doesn’t want the to be? There was no need to argue back.
This.

And I'm precious about people taking photos and strangers taking pictures and this is something that I had to know professionally in the past.

Legally you are allowed to take photos in a public space without permission.

Where the law gets complicated is if you were a professional photographer - you would potentially need a signed model release form with consent from parents - if it were to be used commercially.

But this does not mean you can't use 'professional type' cameras and have another child in the background for private use.

The police have said differently in certain cases in the past which have been well publicised but this isn't actually the case.

There is also a further complication as many places that people think are public are actually privately owned...

Grastenia · 17/06/2021 17:45

Was it H & M?

Perhaps they wanted some 'royalties' from the image rights.

GoldSlipper · 17/06/2021 17:45

@52andblue while, technically, people can take photographs of anything they like within a "public place" I'm certain the rules change when it comes to the commercial side of using them (such as in your case).

I'm no expert but it is my understanding that since the photographer is using this for commercial gain that he would require a model release form signed by a parent/guardian. However this is only the case if it is a close up type shot. If you child is one of a large crowd then there is a loophole unfortunately.

AnnunciataZ · 17/06/2021 17:47

Perhaps if the woman had just said "Please could you delete the photos?" I'd concede that OP could've obliged, but to launch straight into threats to call the police before OP has even had a chance to respond is batshit.

Boredoutmymind · 17/06/2021 17:49

@PurpleDaisies

The amount of cctv and dash cam that are we are constantly being photographed.

With respect, that’s not at all the same. CCTV and dashcan footage doesn’t often end up on social media.

Plenty of youtube channels dedicated to dash cam footage. It is the same when it comes to the law. Anyone can photograph anyone in a public space.
MagicSummer · 17/06/2021 17:53

People are absolutely ridiculous about this scenario. Why all of a sudden are faces blacked out or photos taken from behind? Most babies and children look exactly the same anyway. I'd have told her to go away.

RaspberryCoulis · 17/06/2021 17:55

@PurpleDaisies

You should have deleted the photos when they asked.
Why? Because some paranoid parent asked her to? It's not illegal to take pictures in public places. A park is a public place. The OP was taking photos of her child.

I can understand why you did delete OP, being confronted by an unhinged woman and her bullying husband with your child in tow.

khakiandcoral · 17/06/2021 17:57

You did well to avoid a nasty confrontation in front of your grandchild, but they are bonkers, and I hope they try that nonsense with someone who laugh at them.

LIZS · 17/06/2021 17:57

It is a public space. Unless you intend to publish them online or use them other than personally, legally you do not need permission to take them. However it might have been better to delete or edit their child out of the images, as they had requested it.

NearlyAlwaysInsane · 17/06/2021 17:58

Life is give and take. I would have deleted them if asked. But I would have called the police if threatened like you describe - because aggressive behaviour like that described has no place especially near facilities for kids.

Amichelle84 · 17/06/2021 17:59

If other kids were in the background then they have every right to ask you to delete them, and you should respect that.

GreyhoundG1rl · 17/06/2021 18:00

@Amichelle84

If other kids were in the background then they have every right to ask you to delete them, and you should respect that.
They do not have any right at all, never mind "every" right.
Amichelle84 · 17/06/2021 18:01

They could have been nicer about it though.

Blossomtoes · 17/06/2021 18:01

Surely if you’re so concerned about your child being photographed you move them away from the photographer?

PixieKitten · 17/06/2021 18:02

We saw a man pretending to use his phone for a call, holding it as if it was on loudspeaker, and noticed he actually had it zoomed in on children playing

He left soon after we noticed. He'd been there for maybe ten minutes. I was quite shocked when I looked online that's it's not illegal to take images of children

It's only illegal if they are indecent

I think you did the right thing as you defused the situation although you hadn't actually done anything illegal

Jellybabiesforbreakfast · 17/06/2021 18:03

Some people really do think the world revolves around them.

There's no way I'd delete a nice photo I'd taken of my DC just to placate someone else. When I take photos, it's as a reminder of what we've been up to and they're precious to me.

The parents are at fault here. As soon as they saw you taking photos, they should have removed their DD rather than asking you to delete YOUR photos of YOUR grandchild afterwards.

As a compromise, I'd offer to go though my photos and crop their child out and delete the uncropped versions. But they'd have to take my word on that...there's no way I'd tolerate them looming over me and checking my camera. That's an invasion of personal space.

cookiecreampie · 17/06/2021 18:03

If I take photos of my kids in the park I make the effort to make sure there are no other kids in the background as some people are sensitive about it and I don't want them in the photo. It might be within the law but there's no reason for you to have photos of other people's kids.

khakiandcoral · 17/06/2021 18:04

@Amichelle84

If other kids were in the background then they have every right to ask you to delete them, and you should respect that.
not in the UK, they don't.
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