Loss of Privacy

If you have a child at Mrs Ethelston’s Church of England Primary School, in Uplyme, Devon, then you are now prohibited from taking photographs or videotaping your children.

A spokesman for the Devon local education authority said: “It’s a decision which individual head teachers come to, usually with consultation with governors.”

Parents, however, are not upset at the school, they are upset at the legislation that has been enacted which prohibits them from taking photographs.  If the head teachers have a say in the final decision, then they should be very angry with the school as well.

“It is all to do with the pictures getting into the wrong hands and the school has to follow its own code of conduct. “I am sure the school do not like it just as much as we do.”

Another parent, who did not want to be named, said: “Parents want to record achievements through their child’s life and not to be made to feel that they are all criminals and are going to upload dodgy photos to some porn site.”

It’s a shame that, in order to speak out against this legislation, the parent felt the necessity of remaining anonymous.  Not only can this parent not speak freely, they can’t even photograph their own children.

Unfortunately, the paranoid parents have probably won this battle due to their irrational fears of kiddie-fiddlers.  Combine this with the Section 44 law and, soon, you’ll not be able to take photos anywhere.

In the UK, you’re not allowed to photograph sensitive areas, however, the police won’t tell anyone what areas are sensitive and which ones are not.  The British Journal of Photography has attempted to discover where these areas are by filing 46 freedom of information requests.  Under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, the police can stop and question people taking photographs and the UK government has refused to answer the FOI requests.

The controversial Act of Parliament, put into force in 2001, allows Chief Constables to request authorisation from the Home Secretary to define an area in which any constable in uniform is able to stop and search any person or vehicle for the prevention of acts of terrorism. The authorisation, which can be given orally, must be renewed every 28 days and only covers the areas specified in the Chief Constables’ requests.

While it is common knowledge that the entire City of London, at the behest of the Metropolitan Police, is covered by the legislation, it remains unclear which other areas in England and Wales have requested the stop-and-search powers.

The request was rejected in late May on grounds of national security. ‘In relation to authorisations for England and Wales, I can confirm that the Home Office holds the information that you requested. I am, however, not obliged to disclose it to you,’ writes J Fanshaw of the Direct Communications Unit at the Home Office. ‘After careful consideration we have decided that this information is exempt from disclosure by virtue of Section 24(1) and Section 31(1)(a-c) of the Freedom of Information Act.’

‘Section 24(1) provides that information is exempt if required for the purposes of safeguarding National Security. Section 31(1)(a-c) provides that information is exempt if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime, the apprehension or prosecution of offenders, or the administration of justice.’

So, there you have it.  You can’t know what areas are restrictive because there’s a security risk of some kind if we tell you.  The BJP has appealed the decision, but it is unlikely the government will change their decision anytime soon.

If you’re visiting New York City, you might want to keep a copy of Operations Order 14, which states that photography in New York City is perfectly legal and the police shouldn’t harass you.  Yes, they should already know this, but it doesn’t hurt to carry a copy around anyway.

It’s getting more and more difficult to keep up with this ridiculous law in the UK.  If you take a photo of the police in the United Kingdom, you are now subject to arrest.

Read about it at

The Guardian
BBC News
Boing Boing

There have been many stories recently concerning your rights when taking pictures in a public place.  What used to be permissible now isn’t and, even if it is, you can be threatened by the police anyway.

If you happen to live in the United Kingdom and can get to London on 4 February, London Calling Photographers is having a meeting discussing this very topic.