being filmed in public sucks

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A guy walked by me and put his phone in my face.
I assume he was filming me?

What the f**k!? I asked.

He started to run away. I wanted to know what he was doing so I followed.
He went into a store and started shouting at everyone to call the police,
then he sort of stood there.

I stood my distance, and asked, what are you doing, why are you filming.
I think he said something about a blog, but he mostly seemed to be ignoring me, talking on
a phone. I left, not really knowing what to make of the situation.

In general I have seen this around..
Its toxic and sad behaviour,

But I don't think theres much you can do but not respond and wear a balaclava.

What are the laws about it in Germany? In the UK it's perfectly legal to photograph or film anybody in a public place. Some people hate it. I was once covering a county show for a local news site and one of the exhibitors there got furious with me for photographing them, saying it was against the law without their permission etc. But it isn't.

I think you could make the case for harassment if someone was following you around filming you though.

It is extremely disrespectful! Sorry you had to deal with that. With all the garbage viral 'prank' videos that are popular right now, I've seen so many people behaving in confidently exploitative and abusive ways. Deeply unsettling that it has a viral proliferation, and cultural impetus. I used to love watching Tom Green when I was a kid, but some of the ways he treated people made me feel very uncomfortable- these social media based 'pranksters' seem to be driven to more extreme outcomes in order to get attention online. The other side of it, people just filming for their personal reasons is also extremely inappropriate, and straight up random acts of harassment. Its a new flavor of subtle street violence here in the US.

There is some discussion about the issue, it depends how you use the material later, and who you are (eg an organisation? the govt?).
Mostly you are correct, normally I would have ignored it, but he literally put the camera 3 inches from my face, and panned around from back to front before I exclaimed and he started running.

The response of running also got me... like if he was just a tourist he would have not acted so guilty, he clearly knew he was doing something I wouldn't like, maybe some kind of tiktok pranks.

He may have been following me, since I was kind of bopping to some music, but I have no evidence for how long he was there.

Last edited by __Elijahahahaho on 21 May 2024, 7:21 am, edited 1 time in total.

I am not a lawyer, but as I understand it, it's legal in the UK if it doesn't interfere with an individual's 'reasonable expectations of privacy'.

https://filmlondon.org.uk/resource/filming-people is an excellent resource. It's not a legal guide. It describes what (professional) filmmakers 'should' do in order to avoid potential legal issues when filming.

If the footage appears on some social media channel entitled 'LOOK AT ALL THE WEIRDOS IN MY TOWN' or such like, you'll be fully entitled to consult a solicitor. Ditto if he pushed the phone close up in your face; that might fall under harassment, assault or threatening behaviour.

^^^I've never enjoyed 'ambush' comedy. I just don't get what's funny about filming someone react to a situation that they think is real in a normal way and then....haha! it isn't real! Beats me. But it seems enduringly popular so what do I know.

But yes, if that's what's happening, if its social media pranksters exploiting innocent people so they can get clicks then that's rubbish.

Yeah in my area the cops are really hit and miss.

I called them for a literal street fight (like people on the ground, multiple punches) and they did nothing,
not even a statement. Some of them I know are corrupt.

I know a busker who has a learning disability, he deliberately avoids getting government disability because he knows
if people "start s**t" with him, he will be blamed.

Indeed it is.

Long before the advent of social media, way back in the 1960's, there was a popular network TV show, no less, called "Candid Camera," that featured precisely this kind of prank, arranged not by random teenagers but by TV professionals.

If I'm not mistaken, the victims were paid money for their surprise filmings and were given the option to refuse permission to let it air. Enough of them wanted the money, I guess.

Here is the YouTube channel Candid Camera classics.