As a matter of fact, in most places, people have a right to photograph whatever and whomever they please on public property. It goes without saying that asking first is common courtesy, but generally speaking the law is on the photographer's side.

Dear writer of this week's I, Anonymous: you are going to have a hard time when real life begins after college.

@2 What an original thought.

Hey IAnon, how's that radical feminism workin' out for ya?

Report him for what?

You have no legal expectation of privacy when in public. People can take as many pictures in public as they please whether you like it or not. They may also use those pictures as they see fit. Wear a mask if you have problems with that. Better yet, stay home forever and nobody will take your picture.

Same goes for public phone zombies - your conversations are not private, nobody has to be quiet for you while you chat, and if you collide with someone on the sidewalk I hope they swat the phone from your fingers so you can see it splatter on the concrete.

@5) Not only that, report to whom?? Anon's mother??
"Mr. Authority person! I would like to report a person with a camera committing a perfectly legal act in public!"

The level of misplaced rage is hilarious. This entire post is based on lack of knowledge of the law and the author's opinion. There is definitely a correlation between over reaction/playing the victim and lack of knowledge of a given subject; this amuses me immensely.

You have to get permission (model release) for commercial use. Editorial, artistic, private use is completely legal. For example, if you want to post your work online or hang it in a gallery you are free to do so. If you post a photo and news article related to a bar fight you are within your rights. If you take a picture and use it in an ad to sell a product you need a release.

Sorry. He does have the right to take your photo. Unless he is going to use it in a commercial work. He can even sell it as part of artistic work though there are good reasons to have a model release in those circumstances if the subject is readily recognizable.

But as a general rule, as others said...no one has to ask your permission to take your photo in public. God can you imagine how hard it would be to take pictures of anything if that were the case?!?

Ps. It is exceedingly poor taste to not respect a subject's request to delete a photo. He should have deleted it. But your excessive use of "fucks" makes me think you weren't exactly being polite either.

You deserved the admonition about not needing your permission.

If you don't want your picture taken then stop existing on our planet fuckwad. Don't you know that there are cameras all over the place taking your picture ?? You are probably one of those self absorbed narcissistic assholes with a selfie stick who relentlessly post it to fucking twitter or instagram or other such nonsense. You have no legal recourse and you only proved how stupid the college kids are today. fucking jesus wept.

What you should have done is taken out your phone, snapped his picture (close up) and reported him or (insert imaginative retaliation here). Like gun ownership, race and gender equality, obnoxious-self-centered-technology-usage, dog ownership/owners who dont pick up their pets crap and other societal perspectives, it all works both ways and anyone who disagrees is a hypocrite.

Being a piece of shit isn't illegal (otherwise we wouldn't need sewer systems), but the photographer is still a piece of shit.

simple,a hot steaming cup of starbucks house blend to his face when accidentally tripping would solve the problem..Actually officer, I stumbled when I realized someone I didn't know was taking my picture and a didn't see the crack in the sidewalk"..

@17 Yes, I make sure I have a scalding container of barely-potable coffee within reach at all times just in case I need to use it as a weapon against a law-abiding citizen.

That is why most colleges suck rthes days. It is because if entitled, men/women-feminist-SJW dumb fucks like Anon who have no clue if what the law is and play a "victim" card anytime something happens. Hey! Go back to your fucking "safe space" and leave other people alone!

You DEMANDED that he delete it? Why not instead ask politely? Or were you itching for a confrontation and escalated the situation right out of the gate. Pray tell us, did you bring your soapbox too?
As others have pointed out, he was well within his rights, you don't know this and apparently don't like those rights, but really the only *effective* tool in your toolbox is to make a polite request for deletion. But you went all batshit immediately -- and most all of everbody counters 'batshit screechy' with 'no, fuck off, you're not the boss of me!' So if you've made it to college-age without figuring out these sorts of social skills and observations, I daresay you're in for some schooling beyond what mommy and daddy are paying for...

It is surprising just how many people are entirely clueless about what level of privacy they are entitled to in a public space.

Some of the greatest street photography of all time (actually probably almost all street photography) would have been illegal/impossible if the photographer was required to get permission from every person in the frame.

Yes, it is legal to take photos of people in public, but sexual harassment is not legal and if he was making it obvious that he was perving on her while taking the pictures then that is where he went wrong. He should have been more discreet and not have creeped her out. That was rude.

@22 Sexual harassment is not legal in the workplace. If the photo taker was a fellow student maybe there was some code of conduct violation there or something. Kind of sounded like anonymous initiated a confrontation out of the erroneous belief that the photo taker was not within his rights in taking photos of people in a public space without their permission though.

I have some news for Anon. Every single one of us (even me! even you!) have been someone's, at some time, masturbatory fantasy.
And since we MOSTLY do not know about it, it does us no harm whatsoever!

Everyone that lives in Magnolia or Ballard knows it's only illegal to take pictures of aggressive individuals on meth threatening the elderly and disabled.

@22
Nothing in this Anon indicates he was sexually harassing her besides taking her picture. The masturbation comment came after she initiated the confrontation and I don't think would carry any weight if she then accused him of harassment.

College doesn't always equal smart.

Oh lookie! Another group of people who are confusing what is "legal" with what is "right". It's fucking rude to take photos of people. It's fucking rude to not delete them when you'er asked.

(This goes hand in hand with pedants who think that simplistic linear thinking is "logical"...it's not logical. It's childish, irrational and shallow.)

I don't get why people are possessive of their likeness - it's not "you" - it's the light that bounced off you at a given moment. Seems fucking weird to get wound up about that.

@28. Actually, your logic is "irractional and shallow". If taking pictures of strangers was so "wrong", the whole fucking world would be pissed off at one another. Stop being a little baby, and toughen up, you precious snowflake, you.

This just happened to me. But as much as it sucks, you cannot fortunately make someone stop taking your photo in a public place. My girlfriend and I were getting out of the ocean this weekend only to find a group of seven sleazy Mexicans taking our pictures. All we could do was call them out on it - there isn't anything illegal about their indecency.