Comments on: I am a photographer, not a terrorist. http://tonywhitmore.co.uk/blog/2009/12/05/i-am-a-photographer-not-a-terrorist/ Tony Whitmore's blog Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:08:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: John http://tonywhitmore.co.uk/blog/2009/12/05/i-am-a-photographer-not-a-terrorist/comment-page-1/#comment-2716 John Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:20:16 +0000 http://tonywhitmore.co.uk/blog/?p=506#comment-2716 If you look at the actual laws on photography in the UK, they are quite simple - you can legally photograph anything or anybody in a public place, but not so as to follow people around and harass them. It isn't a matter for ACPO (which is not a lawmaking body)to make rules about, but the latest guidance from them is welcome. That doesn't mean the policemen will take any notice of it. In bully boy Britain, your rights in practice are not a matter of law. They are a matter of who is bigger than you and the effect of public hysteria about child pornography and terrorism. Law and rationality don't come into it. If some excited member of the public demands your film or to delete your images, they have no legal right to make that demand. However, if you resist, the police will probably arrest you, not the assailant, for 'conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace'. I tend to go on holidays to less paranoid countries if I want to take a lot of photos. Britain has become a bit scary. If you look at the actual laws on photography in the UK, they are quite simple – you can legally photograph anything or anybody in a public place, but not so as to follow people around and harass them. It isn’t a matter for ACPO (which is not a lawmaking body)to make rules about, but the latest guidance from them is welcome. That doesn’t mean the policemen will take any notice of it.

In bully boy Britain, your rights in practice are not a matter of law. They are a matter of who is bigger than you and the effect of public hysteria about child pornography and terrorism. Law and rationality don’t come into it. If some excited member of the public demands your film or to delete your images, they have no legal right to make that demand. However, if you resist, the police will probably arrest you, not the assailant, for ‘conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace’.

I tend to go on holidays to less paranoid countries if I want to take a lot of photos. Britain has become a bit scary.

]]> By: Twitted by HantsLUG http://tonywhitmore.co.uk/blog/2009/12/05/i-am-a-photographer-not-a-terrorist/comment-page-1/#comment-2640 Twitted by HantsLUG Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:05:11 +0000 http://tonywhitmore.co.uk/blog/?p=506#comment-2640 [...] This post was Twitted by HantsLUG [...] [...] This post was Twitted by HantsLUG [...]

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