No Photography Allowed

Are there rules for taking photos of people in public or shooting on private property?

The short answer is it depends!

The laws that govern where and when you can shoot images vary from country to country and in some cases like Canada from province to province.

Does this mean anyone can stop you from shooting photos in public? The general answer in western democracies is no. In democratic countries generally speaking you can shoot anyone and anything you can see while in public. This includes children, women, people participating in parades or public protests and even police actions (where you are clearly not involved or too close to the action where you might be considered a threat or a hindrance to police).

This means when it comes to street photography while someone may object to being photographed they can’t stop you and they can’t insist that you delete your images.

But the laws differ for non-democratic nations and before shooting anywhere else in the world you’d want to be sure you understand the laws of the land. This can be especially true when it comes to shooting images of children or women in some countries.

It can also be illegal, dangerous and a seriously bad idea to photograph police or military installations or even police or military actions in public places in some nations.

In my own province of Ontario as I said it is permissible to take photos of anyone or anything you can see when in public. What you can’t do however is shoot images of people inside their own homes from outside without their permission as there is an expectation of privacy when in your own home.

Also you can’t take images of people being arrested under the public health act. This is difficult to determine but if it’s obvious that the person being arrested is due to their behaviour or attempt to end their life (like jumping off a bridge) then these are moments when you maybe lawfully ordered to stop.

In Quebec which has different laws than the rest of Canada people have the right to their private life which means everyone has some control over the use of their image which includes photos and publishing of these images on social media.

In the rest of Canada privately owned shopping malls and individual businesses where owners or their agents like security guards or even police officers insist you can’t shoot photos they may or may not be lawfully correct. It comes down to whether or not you want to argue and chance being arrested (and likely released shortly thereafter) or just walk away to shoot another day.

Discretion is often the better part of velour and you really have to ask yourself whether or not the image is worth the effort and the cost?