Australia - photos of you in public
It may come as a shock to many Australians and our friends overseas, but here in this wonderful country 'you' as an individual have no rights if you are photographed in public - be that naked, half naked or clothed and irrespective of what you were doing at that time.
The fundamentals of it revolve around our IP laws (ie literally your image in a public place is not your IP, its the photographers) and other legislation regarding privacy (which is fundamentally null and void once you're in a public space).
You do have some recourse when it comes to how an image that you've been captured in while in a public space gets used. It can't be used to vilify, slander or defame, or for that matter discriminate either.
This has recently played out for a young woman in Sydney, where topless women on the beaches are mostly unabated and widely accepted by the general population: https://au.news.yahoo.com/sydney-woman-fumes-secretly-photographed-topless-beach-231903226.html
In my opinion these laws need to change - perhaps not in its entirety as we don't want public place photos being 'cancelled' and photographers having to madly gain permission from many in one single snap.
But look closely at the pics on the link I have shared. To me there is an obvious intent to promulgate the woman's image (to what gain is not clear), as the so called public place photo is very much honed in upon her. If the photo was taken from a much greater distance and individuals were basically unrecognisable then this particular photo would perhaps have not caused so much angst. Please note I was apprehensive about including the link (and therefore the woman's image), but this needs to be highlighted and laws here need to change.
I believe that with a push for greater public spaces to be clothing optional we need this legal loop hole regarding images closed in parallel...
Even if public photography is not prohibited, harassment issues may be a relevant avenue for investigation in this instance.
For example, in Victoria I found this starting point:
https://www.humanrights.vic.gov.au/for-individuals/sexual-harassment/
The nature of the photographs and and their subsequent use could well come under this or equivalent in other jurisdictions.
Yes, this is an important point. The how it gets used (ie a public space photo that you're in) as I mentioned.
Stalking laws are also clear that photos of you in a public place can also constitute evidence and form part of the case.
It's the same over the ditch here in NZ - photography of people in public places is allowed and you can't do much about it.
There is however the limitation on how that image is used, so if it is going to be on a website or used for promotion then the person in the photo has some rights over it. Often they don't find out until someone notifies them that they've seen their image being used somewhere.
be that naked, half naked or clothed and irrespective of what you were doing at that time.
What does your laws say about the above in public?
Our laws here in the UK have been campained over many years and in 2003 public nudity became legal. While they don't make it publically known and try to hide it, if a person chooses to go naked in public then that person must accept that somebody somewhere is going to either video you or photograph you, so while there are many views and opinions on photography in public, you the individual decides how you want to be seen.
I think many people here in the UK still think that nudity is indecency, which clearly it is not. On our TV the other night a woman possibly a cleaner was doing her job in a Fire Services Station. While doing her job she was very close to the mens changjng rooms and a man was in there. While I can't tell you the full facts because I missed part of the conversations, it seems that people took the woman's view the man was out of order. I was talking to an educated woman on Wednesday evening about it and she had not seen it. I said to her that the cleaner was very close to the mens changing rooms, and if she knew that a man was in there showering or whatever, she had the "freedom" to turn around and walk away leaving that area until the man had finished and left, but she chose to stay there and then report the man for indency, which obviously made it to the TV more than likely because it involved the fire brigade.
The police are not following procedure here in the UK with regards nudity, they don't advise the public when complaints are made about what is or is not legal. Only this morning I myself was naked inside my own home this morning having just risen out of bed. I walked through my front living room and while walking through (not near any windows) I saw in the corner of my eye a young woman looking in through my window from the front. I stopped and looked and saw her before I deliberately moved away from her sight, and then as I was moving away I saw her turn away and walk on quicker than she approached. It all happened so quickly as if she could have seen me on a previous occassion and this time deliberately approached my home area slower than ususal before speeding off after sighting me inside my home. I was expecting a visit tonight from the local police but nothing as yet.
When will we all unite and sort this problem out once and for all? Our civil service to me anyway seem to be using this to their financial advantage securing convictions.
When I'm in my house I do what I want, to anyone walking past, why are you looking in people's windows?? there are plenty of places to look other than in my window, try looking where you are going!!
I think you meant, "why was she looking in my windows"?
I was in my own home going about my business and nothing sexual.
It would be very dangerous to democracy if one could not take photos of anything in a public place. A case in point. I once photographed Police arresting someone and I thought they were being excessive in their force.. The Police didn't like it ofcourse but we were all in a public place. It changed the Police's behaviour for the better. I think it is better to be able to photograph anything in a public place than worry about a couple of perverts.
By homeclothesfree:Sadly there are states in the US where it is an offense to allow yourself to be visible naked from the streets outside your home. This is the case in Arkansas unless the law has been changed.
That's generally the case in Australia. In the states I've checked, the statute generally applies in a public place or visible from a public place.
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