Answer Man: Is it illegal to take pictures of people without their permission? (2024)

Q: Do people have the right to take your picture and publish it without your permission?

A: In general, it depends on the circ*mstances under which the picture was taken and how the image is used. The rules on pictures also apply to video images, and publishing can include print, television, social media, other media, and websites.

“Taking photographs and video of things that are plainly visible in public spaces is a constitutional right — and that includes transportation facilities, the outside of federal buildings, and police and other government officials carrying out their duties,” the American Civil Liberties Union says in a summary of photographers’ rights on its website.

“Unfortunately, law enforcement officers have been known to ask people to stop taking photographs of public places,” the summary says. “Those who fail to comply have sometimes been harassed, detained, and arrested. Other people have ended up in FBI databases for taking innocuous photographs of public places.”

The right of citizens to record the police is a critical check and balance, the summary says. “It creates an independent record of what took place in a particular incident, one that is free from accusations of bias, lying, or faulty memory. It is no accident that some of the most high-profile cases of police misconduct have involved video and audio records.”

An article by attorney and writer Teo Spengler on the Legal Beagle website asks how does it fall out legally when you take pictures of people without their permission. “It largely depends on where they are when you push the photo button,” the article says.

“Generally, you can take any photos you want of people when they are in a public location, like a park, a beach or a city square. It’s perfectly legal since they have elected to place themselves in a public location and have no reasonable expectation of privacy. If you snap a hundred pictures of people at a political rally, a marathon or a rock concert in the park, all is well and good.”

No reasonable expectation of privacy in public includes where they go, who they go with, and what they do while there.

“For example, if you photograph a couple kissing on the beach and publish the photo in the newspaper, they cannot complain,” the article says. “They have no claim against you even if one of the two happens to be married to someone else and the marriage ends because of the photo.

“Likewise, if you take photos of someone shooting up drugs, wearing a bathing suit three sizes too small, falling down drunk or smacking their baby, you are within your rights. The exception is when the person being photographed is in some particular part of the public space where he has a reasonable expectation of privacy.”

In some places, even though they are public, most people expect to have privacy.

“If these expectations are deemed reasonable by the courts, you cannot photograph other people in these spots,” the article says. “People have been found to have reasonable expectations of privacy in places like public bathrooms, changing lockers at the pool and fitting rooms at clothing stores.

“And people almost always have a reasonable expectation of privacy when they are at home with their families. That means that you can’t take pictures of people inside their own home without their permission. The rule applies even if you are standing on a public sidewalk looking through a window and using a telephoto lens. This kind of photo violates their rights.”

The owner of private property, like a store or theater, controls whether you can take pictures there.

“Ask before you snap,” the article says. “The owner has the right to kick you out if you take pictures without permission and, if you refuse to leave, you can be arrested for trespass. This rule also applies to some businesses one thinks of as owned by the public, like a public library or a government building.”

Another article by Spengler brings up laws about being photographed without permission. If you stand in a public place, you can usually take a photo of anything you can see.

“Be a little careful however if you are using a telephoto lens,” the article says. “Just because your feet are on public land doesn’t mean that you can shoot into private property.”

A reasonable expectation of privacy applies to private homes, including backyards and pool patios.

“If you take shots in a place where someone has a reasonable expectation of privacy, you are violating his right to privacy, which can get you in trouble criminally and also trigger a civil lawsuit for damages,” the article says.

Under the federal Video Voyeurism Prevention Act, Spengler writes, it is a crime to take photos of a person’s naked body parts without their permission. The Act makes it illegal to “...intentionally capture an image of a private area of an individual without their consent and knowingly do so under circ*mstances in which an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy.”

Under federal law, you can’t take photos on private property if the owner posts restrictions. “Look for signs or ask someone in charge,” the article says. “Locations like airports and train stations often have restrictions too, for security reasons.”

You have the legal right to photograph children in public without their or their parents’ consent, Spengler wrote, “but this can be regarded as a suspicious activity by parents. However, the act of photography under these circ*mstances is not illegal. Generally it is perfectly legal for strangers to photograph a child, and post or publish the images as long as they are not published on a child p*rnography site. However, check the laws in your state as some states have passed restrictive legislation and more are considering doing so.”