It is to do with personal privacy laws, and it is the reason that speed cameras have taken so long to take off in France. Even now the speed cameras cannot take a photo that includes an image of the driver, just of the number plate.
CCTV does exist but there are lots of controls in place in terms of being registered, providing written confirmation that people are under surveillance and regulations about tapes being destroyed.
Your camera pointing out of your window onto a street is taking images of people without their consent, and is therefore illegal.
House overrun by guests and visitors
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Hells Bells
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I went on a full day course on this last autumn! Supposed to be based on international law, German law says it is NOT illegal to take pictures of street scenes - if it were, all holiday snaps would be illegal. As long as the view you are taking is one anyone can see, you do not need anyone's permission. Apparently the acid test is: would the picture still make sense if you removed any one person?
I think this is one of those issues where may be more myths than laws.
I think this is one of those issues where may be more myths than laws.
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kevsboredagain
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... so does that mean that all the internet webcams in France, of which there are 100s, are illegal? All can be viewed via the internet and there's nothing to prevent anyone storing these images.
My local ski area has them all over the place and even in the summer they are still active.
Imagine you're at a big concert. Do you get everyone to clear the stadium before you take a photo. If not, you're taking pictures of other people without their consent.
In general it's not allowed to:
- Publish a picture of someone without consent
- Take a picture of someone where they would normally expect a level of privacy
- Take a picture for sexual reasons which is now extending to small kids due to the number of weirdos into that sort of thing
- In the USA and London, taking pictures of public buildings because obviously you're planning to blow it up
As Margaret says, nearly everyones holiday snaps would be illegal if you needed consent to take any photo with a person in it. I'm therefore not too worried about being able to watch people walk down the street over the internet 30m away from my window.
My local ski area has them all over the place and even in the summer they are still active.
Imagine you're at a big concert. Do you get everyone to clear the stadium before you take a photo. If not, you're taking pictures of other people without their consent.
In general it's not allowed to:
- Publish a picture of someone without consent
- Take a picture of someone where they would normally expect a level of privacy
- Take a picture for sexual reasons which is now extending to small kids due to the number of weirdos into that sort of thing
- In the USA and London, taking pictures of public buildings because obviously you're planning to blow it up
As Margaret says, nearly everyones holiday snaps would be illegal if you needed consent to take any photo with a person in it. I'm therefore not too worried about being able to watch people walk down the street over the internet 30m away from my window.