To be shocked to discover

[Junipercrumble]

Apparently, it is NOT illegal for a stranger to take photographs or video clips of people, including their children in a public place. 😵

I, like many of my friends are astonished if this is true.

I wonder how many people are aware of this?

This is rubbish. For all the reasons already explained.

All digital photos have data attached, date, time, file size etc. That image of you is your personal data

No it's not. It needs to be identifiable information to someone else, for example their picture appearing with their name or where they live. Nothing to do with the data attached that no one can access.

No. It's not

It's the intention of the photographer, that's the issue. Perverts no, school photo yes. Also consent of the subject.

You just keep going

Posting absolute nonsense

I don't think I have any .

OP I am not sure why so many people are rude and saying that you should know this already. It is strange that anyone take a photo of anyone and do whatever they like with it. To people who are hiding from abusers this is a scary thought.

Bullshit.

Nonsense.

It is shocking and horrible, OP, but it is true.

I have no idea which one of you is right here. But facial recognition already exists and is likely to become even more accurate in the future. You only really need someone 's face in order to find out the other details, especially if your face is already on the internet.

Sadly no. My neighbour often photographs the kids out the front. I have told him not to and each time, I log my concerns with the local council who pass them on to the local police. No need for it at all.

You keep posting incorrect information.

All digital photos have data attached, date, time, file size etc. That image of you is your personal data

I don't think this is necessarily nonsense as unnamed people can be identified by piecing together different pieces of data. So their image combined with say an identifying work uniform in a specific location. It's extreme, but possible.

For the hard of understanding, just read: www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/report/taking-photographs-in-public-places

Or I can quote for you:
There is no law preventing people from taking photographs in public. This includes taking photos of other people’s children.
If you are taking photographs from private land, you need to have the land owner’s permission. Taking a photo of a person where they can expect privacy, such as inside their home or garden, is likely to cause a breach of privacy laws.

Unless the images which have been taken are indecent, no one has the right to:
ask a photographer to stop
ask for a copy of the photos
force a photographer to delete the photographs

Though it does go on to say:
Harassment and stalking
If someone is consistently photographing you when you are in public against your will, it may be considered harassment or stalking.

I don't think you've thought this one through OP. Last year DD and I were eating outside our local cafe when a photographer appeared taking pictures up and down the street. We were in the Times the next day! It was a piece about our suburb being the most searched for on RightMove, something like that anyway. No permission was sought.

Having said that, I used to work for a local newspaper and if we wanted a heatwave pic of a cute kid splashing in a fountain or similar we'd always ask for parental permission to take it and publish it. We wouldn't just start snapping close up pictures of kids in swimwear. I guess it's about being sensible.

If some creepy guy was taking photos of children in parks - which is what I think you're worried about - I'd report that or at least keep an eye on them. It could come under maybe be harassment or anti-social behaviour. I don't know the exact laws.

How do people ^not* know this? We should all really be aware of our rights surrounding privacy law in this internet age.

You and your circle of friends are really not the brightest op.

I took my son to an activity yesterday and there were 3 other children who were approx 7 years younger. At the end of the activity us parents all took a photo of the 4 of them. I uploaded this pic to Facebook and I'm guessing my son has been uploaded onto theirs! None of us asked permission - we didn't even speak to each other just snapped away!

You must run in pretty dim/self-obsessed circles to have not known this!

How would anything EVER get photographed if you had to wait for absolutely NO people to be in it?

Did you think paparazzi were illegal?! LOL

It's a fundamental principle of English common law - one which separates it from other jurisdictions - that whatever is not forbidden is permitted.

Or put simply everything that isn't unlawful is lawful.

That being said, there is no singular definition of "public" in the law. Which means the word needs to be examined carefully in context. Just because a space permits the public access doesn't make it a "public place". And these cases the landowner can impose "reasonable" conditions on people while they occupy the space. Parks, for example. Is it really public land, or is it land owned by a local authority ? If the latter, are there any restrictions on what people may do ?

This thread has quite cheered me up. Clearly there will be plenty of work for lawyers for years to come.

If my child had been there, they would a) have queried it from about age 7, and b) I would have said no. But that is because they are adopted and knew there were specific reasons to avoid being photographed.

Similarly when at public events in our town we kept an active eye out for the official photographers and avoided being caught in any photos where they would be clear enough to be recognisable.

Rip the camera from their hands and smash it?

Then you would be arrested

Seriously tho, why would anyone want to take photos of random kids and post them on their Instagram?

no one is interested in your kids OP, except perhaps their grand parents.

Paedophiles aren't likely to walk into a park and openly start snapping away at your children, fully clothed, and then post them on their social media.

phoning 101 would be ridiculous and smashing their camera would be an offence.

Chances are your kids are in the background of lots of photos, and guaranteed nobody as spent more than a millisecond looking at them in it!