International Law

Sunday Telegraph magazine article on the harrassment of photographers by jobsworths - time for a bit of sousveillance ?

The Sunday Telegraph "Seven" magazine, has an article about the illegal Harassment of Photographers by officious jobsworths:

Has our increasingly paranoid society declared war on the humble 'weekend snapper'?

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 17/08/2008
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An amateur photographer is chased by the police after taking pictures on the seafront; another man is frogmarched away when using his camera in a town centre. Since when did carrying a camera in public provoke so much suspicion and hostility? Sam Delaney reports. Illustration by Ulla Puggaard

[...]

This article brings together first hand and other recent reports of illegal harassment of innocent photographers, by private sector security guards, by Police Community Support Officers and even by supposedly fully trained Police Constables, all of whom are flouting the law, not only by demanding that photography should cease, or that photos should be deleted, but also in some cases by demanding "ID".

All of this is illegal, but normal law abiding members of the public are often intimidated by the fluorescent jacketed officious jobsworths.

Would anyone be interested in joining in with others in a bit of Sousveillance to name and shame some such jobsworth little hitlers ?

Email us, ideally using our PGP public encryption key, and after having read our Hints and Tips for Whistleblowers etc. guide

Meanwhile, we are still awaiting the results of a Freedom of Information Act request, originally to the Home Office, now being dealt with by the Ministry of Justice, regarding exactly where it is actually illegal to take photographs in, of, or near "sensitive buildings" which have been designated as Prohibited Places under the Official Secrets Act 1911.

This is not at all clear, given that even some Government and Military buildings are no longer actually owned by the Crown, or have foreign based owners, due to various Public Finance Initiatives and tax avoidance schemes by property developers.

See the Spy Blog UK FOIA request category archive MoJ - Prohibited Place - Official Secrets Act 1911

Full post as published by Spy Blog on August 15, 2008 (boomark / email).