this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2023
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In America at least, anywhere in public is fair game for recording. You have no expectation of privacy (from being seen) out and about in the world anyway, and that applies to recordings as well.
Should it be this way? I’m honestly torn. But the long and the short of it is, if you’re somewhere that doesn’t expressly forbid video recording, assume you’re always on camera. Because you likely are.
Yup, though that doesn't mean those recordings can necessarily be legally published or used for anything except private use. Clearly it's not the case in most of the US, or people just don't care to enforce it, but in many parts of the EU you can get in serious legal trouble if you do upload it in a way where people can be recognized, especially if what you release can count as defamation. Show someone freaking out or breaking the law in Finland, and you will be the one getting the fine.
In America, the first amendment covers things like video recordings as well. As long as you’re in public, anything you can see is fair game. Even if you’re recording into private space (this doesn’t count for things like flying drones up to windows or anything of course.)
There are limitations, but if you’re standing on a public road recording into even highly secure military bases, you’re legally in the clear.
Recording while on private property is different of course. Even if you’re recording public property from that private property, you can be in legal hot water.
Though I’m curious on the EU law about defamation… how can you defame someone by sharing a video of their public actions? Like, you’re saying that if I recorded you kicking a dog in the head in a public park, and posted it to TikTok without your consent, I’d be breaking the law?
Possibly, yeah. You have to make sure anything you release (here in Finland, as that's where I live) isn't "conducive to causing that person damage or suffering or subjecting that person to contempt", but what is or isn't is left a bit vague in the laws.
If there is enough backlash from a video like that against the person in the video, it can actually mean the courts see the defamation, loss of face, publicity or some other result as being enough of a punishment for the original crime and give them a reduced sentence or let them go. Say someone figures out who the dog kicker is, tracks them down and beats them up (or worse), contacts their job to get them fired or something like that for example. You are now partly responsible for that, and they just got a punishment that the courts will take into an account.
One of the most common that happens is shopkeepers releasing videos of people shoplifting (or worse, accusing them without being absolutely 100% sure), which has been multiple times proven to be illegal. You are free to send them to the cops, but you can't release them publicly.