Legality of taking photos of people

European rules are getting strict to the point of silly where photographers are all assumed to be terrorists or kiddie fiddlers.
This is a nice common sense guide to what you can and can't do.

http://digital-photography-school.com/i … onfidence/

Other countries, Indonesia included, tend to assume someone with a camera is a photographer and it's commonly impossible to get down a street without someone asking you to take their photo.
The only places to avoid here are police stations, military areas and government buildings, but those rules commonly disappear if the people there fancy being snapped. Little kids are a no no unless mummy or daddy is there, but that's just reasonable.
I really pity you guys in Europe and the way you have to skip around daft laws.

Enjoy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icL0cMk9Jk0

Shoot first and ask questions later is not a good policy. I don't want my picture being posted anywhere unless I am the one posting it.  As far as my kids go, definitely a no no taking pictures of them unless I know who you are and what you intend to do with them.   

I've found both the kindergarten and summer camp coordinators had taken some pictures of my little one and posted them on their facebook account and business website for promotion purposes without consent,  They both learned from that mistake!

While some may pity such safeguards here in the EU, I embrace them!

Romaniac - fair enough but what about the accidental photos? - I'm taking photos of a bike race and you and yours are on the other side of the road in the crowd. I post the photo of the bike race but there you are. What do you think about that?

Culebronchris wrote:

Romaniac - fair enough but what about the accidental photos? - I'm taking photos of a bike race and you and yours are on the other side of the road in the crowd. I post the photo of the bike race but there you are. What do you think about that?

I think if I spot it and identify you as having posted it, I will take measures to have it removed whether it be direct contact with you or via the platform which you've posted it on.  So far in instances where I've done such a thing, the other party/platform was entirely cooperative and apologetic.  The law is the law, however whether or not someone wants to abide by or enforce such laws is another issue.  Personally, I take it seriously from both side of the camera

Perhaps much of this is a matter of perception and local habit.

The linked video shows UK photographers and their point of view, as the number of arrests of photographers and them being illegally forced to delete their photos show a very dangerous attitude where guilt is assumed.

I think we can agree on kids being a bad move in general, but I would argue exceptions to that if public interest is there and there is no nasty motive or possible sexual exploitation of the pictures.
The acceptable reasons are very limited in those cases.

Schools taking photos of kids is perfectly normal and acceptable here with FB posts getting loads of 'likes' from parents.
I know the UK doesn't share that open attitude, and it appears Spain follows a similar vein.

Whilst sexual photos of kids are clearly unacceptable in every way, I see most of the safeguards as pointless rubbish that only hurts the parents as they never get to see their kids playing or learning outside posed school photos or family stuff - A sad loss.
Schools often hire photographers to go on trips or camps with the intention of snapping the kids, and these end up on social media or school websites as well. No one cares for a moment, and most are pleased to see them.
My daughter has been photographed many times by her school and the photos put on social media, something I don't have the slightest issue with.
Lets face it, anyone pervert enough to fancy an eight year old kid will just get a clothes catalogue and 'enjoy' themselves to that, but my wife and I get to see her at school playing with her friends or working in class.

This is a very highly rated school in Serpong with a very well deserved reputation for excellence.
Loads of kids photos on there without even a hint of a moan from parents, the norm here is to complain when the kids aren't in school photos.

As I said, I pity parents in much of Europe because you miss out on so much.

Fred wrote:

Schools taking photos of kids is perfectly normal and acceptable here with FB posts getting loads of 'likes' from parents.
I know the UK doesn't share that open attitude, and it appears Spain follows a similar vein.

Whilst sexual photos of kids are clearly unacceptable in every way, I see most of the safeguards as pointless rubbish that only hurts the parents as they never get to see their kids playing or learning outside posed school photos or family stuff - A sad loss.
Schools often hire photographers to go on trips or camps with the intention of snapping the kids, and these end up on social media or school websites as well. No one cares for a moment, and most are pleased to see them.
My daughter has been photographed many times by her school and the photos put on social media, something I don't have the slightest issue with.
Lets face it, anyone pervert enough to fancy an eight year old kid will just get a clothes catalogue and 'enjoy' themselves to that, but my wife and I get to see her at school playing with her friends or working in class.

This is a very highly rated school in Serpong with a very well deserved reputation for excellence.
Loads of kids photos on there without even a hint of a moan from parents, the norm here is to complain when the kids aren't in school photos.

As I said, I pity parents in much of Europe because you miss out on so much.

Fred, you make some decent points.  However as I have brought up with kindergartens and activity directors that have taken photos of my (and others) children; if pictures are going to be taken and other parents consent to it, those can be posted online with consent. so long as my child is not in it.  For pictures with my child, those can be shared directly via email or put on the thumb drive when I stop by.    I've found that to be entirely agreeable.  There's no need for parents to "miss out" on anything if some forethought and cooperation is put into the matter.

The percentage of perverts within a population is probably about the same for every country, but the assumptions are greater where that attitude is drummed into people.
It's entirely possible some weird perv has seen a snap of my kid but you just can't worry about it.
Perhaps you could send them out in full coverings just in case a perv sees them and has a dirty thought.



Ner, I prefer to assume most people see school photos as school photos and bystanders who happen to end up in a photo are just bystanders, not targets for a perv with a magnifying glass.

My daughter's school FB is packed with photos of the kids, none with parents' approval.
I'm pretty sure no one will complain, but that same set of photos in the UK would see lawyers having fun and teachers getting sacked.
These daft laws are a lawyer's wet dream but make not a jot of difference to the kids' safety.
It looks as if Spain has a similar silly attitude.

I was just thinking about the "pervert" argument. if you were to see someone taking pictures of your children you can stop them. If you see the pictures of your children published in some format you can have them removed demand that an apology be printed or take legal action. That isn't actually going to actually stop someone with a long lens taking the pictures for private use though is it?

Anyway it wasn't really children I was thinking about when I asked, except that children form a percentage of the population. My main concern was about the picture of the cathedral or the bike race or the street market that, almost by default, will include people.

I suppose the only logical answer is to stop loading pictures to Facebook. Sad reflection on society though and my mum will never know where I've been this week.

I'm a tran fan myself and taking pictures of trains in Spain can be a mixed adventure. I have many times been stopped by security agents. There was a time that you could write to some office in Madrid and ask for a permit to take such photographs. You would be given a long list of things you had to agree with and then sign (most of this list was common sense anyway, such as don't trespass, don't paint graffiti, and don't tamper with railway equipment). If you sent this in and signed it they sent you a permit, free of charge and valid one year. Waving this permit at security agents or policemen usually satisfied them, although in some cases I was asked where I got this and who issued it but a phone call to the office settled that it was legitimate. However, according to their website, they no longer issue permits but instead say everybody is permitted to take such photographs. Whether or not this is the case, it is not something that all security agents are aware of or accept as an explanation. But mileages may vary and some are more accomodating than others.

When it comes to people being on pictures, I understand that policemen are an absolute no. Don't even think of pointing a lens in their general direction, and this includes police cars, buildings and insignia.

For other people I understand the general rule is that they should not be recognizable. So if there are some people waiting on a station platform and they are sufficiently far away and not looking at the camera, they probably cannot be recognized and this makes having them in the picture legitimate.

Culebronchris wrote:

I suppose the only logical answer is to stop loading pictures to Facebook. Sad reflection on society though and my mum will never know where I've been this week.

It's understandable that pictures of people posting on social media without their permission is a non go. I don't like it either to see my face back on social media, when I don't know the source.

I think it's all about moderation : if you take pictures of a building or other scenery, you can not always avoid to exclude people from it and they will understand. If you point your camera to a certain person then it's really high appreciated to ask permission first .
Unless you are from the press or a nasty paperazzi.

And for your mums sake,  you can always email them.

Cameras were new around a hundred years ago and, as tech got cheaper and better, the whole world could see sights they would never have known about.

Then people made stupid laws that threaten the whole thing.

I will now remove any of my photos from the internet until I can get written permission from all subjects, just in case someone cares.







The world will lose a pictorial history of Indonesian life, but what's that compared to a moronic law?

Do I sound angry? I hope so.

Today's laws naff up history.

Ill thought out useless  laws designed to protect privacy do nothing but take away historical images of times gone by, all at a time when governments read your emails.

http://www.bbc.com/news/video_and_audio … s/36993693

Imagine if some well meaning prat had stopped that guy or the hundreds of other street photographers over the last hundred years or so.

OMG, there are kids in some .. stress heart attack, perverts

https://www.google.co.id/search?q=stree … p;bih=1149

I have had no problems with photographing anything inclluding Moros y Christianos. I think its because you are a man...sorry.  The Spanish can come on a bit stupid sometimes in more ways than one although I don't think that photographing kids is stupid. I don't think I would like my child being photographed either.  But they can be very forceful in other matters as I say.