UK Home Office must correct advice on photography in public spaces, says NUJ
The NUJ is calling on the Home Office to rectify information it has published and shared with asylum seekers on restrictions around photographing and filming people in public places.
The information leaflet, posted on the government website on 19 August, makes a misleading blanket claim that people in the UK “could be arrested by the police” if they “take pictures or videos of someone without their permission [...] including in public spaces, like streets or parks”.
These statements misrepresent the law and risk misleading people on their rights and obligations. Taking photos or videos of people in public without their permission is not inherently unlawful.
There are certain contexts in which photography and videos taken and shared without a person’s permission are legally prohibited - for example, voyeurism and upskirting or causing harassment and distress as per the Protection from Harassment Act. There is also a right to redress if a photo or video is taken or published of someone without permission in a private setting or where they have reasonable expectation of privacy. These legal restrictions should be communicated with accuracy and nuance, which are not present in the Home Office’s leaflet.
NUJ members working in visual journalism are already experiencing increased obstruction, hostility and routinely deal with people questioning their right to photograph in public. This can even rise to instances of verbal and physical abuse, as has been documented by our Journalists’ Safety Tracker.
Séamus Dooley, NUJ assistant general secretary, said:
“This communication not only runs the risk of misleading asylum seekers, it could also have serious consequences for our members - particularly photographers and videographers who regularly carry out their work in public places. It also spreads public confusion that could serve to inhibit public interest journalism. Press photographers and other lens-based journalists perform a legitimate and important function in reporting and recording events in public spaces.
“The union is very concerned that the spread of inaccurate information around the right to photograph and film people in public without permission could expose our members to increased hostility and harassment as well as wrongful accusations of criminality and unjustifiable stops by the police. This would undermine journalists’ right to report and the public’s right to know.
“The NUJ urges the government to amend its publication and will be writing directly to the Home Secretary to raise this issue.”