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Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by martin1975 on Sunday January 08, 2023 @06:02PM (#34304319)
Unless laws are passed to make filming others in public, this is unlikely to ever stop. Chances are, such laws will not get passed as it will intrude on civil liberties and free expression of many. I also recommend against swatting away, as the author in the Verge concludes he/she will do, at someone's phone if they don't consent to being recorded. You run the risk of breaking someone's phone that way, giving potential rise to increased conflict or a small claims suit. Best response is to walk away or ignore.
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by lr4444lr on Sunday January 08, 2023 @06:36PM (#34304633)
They're sticking objects into your personal space without consent, possibly constituting harassment or invasion of privacy/eavesdropping in some jurisdictions. I highly doubt the court costs for 99% of their sweatshop-made electronics are worth the hassle, including convincing a jury. I'm not saying you should grab their stuff and stomp it into the dirt, but a swat isn't gonna hurt these clowns.
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by jjcon on Sunday January 08, 2023 @06:45PM (#34304706)
> They're sticking objects into your personal space without consent, possibly constituting harassment or invasion of privacy/eavesdropping in some jurisdictions

You don’t watch the news much do you? This is the MO of reporters at every news agency chasing a soundbyte. Nothing illegal in the slightest.

Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by Dudeman112 on Monday January 09, 2023 @10:51AM (#34311681)
I would imagine most jurisdictions have specific laws that apply to journalism and don't apply to regular people?
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by jjcon on Monday January 09, 2023 @11:22AM (#34312083)
Journalists are regular people - any gatekeeping would be a massive regression in freedom of the press
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by ovao on Sunday January 08, 2023 @06:46PM (#34304718)
A person who approaches you and asks you a question — camera or no — is not deserving of assault.
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by hgsgm on Sunday January 08, 2023 @07:20PM (#34305019)
Assault, camera or no, is deserving of a self-defense response. What if was a knife or gun, not a camera? They look similar. I'm not going to wait until I'm bleeding out to find out.
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by saagarjha on Sunday January 08, 2023 @07:22PM (#34305044)
Are you a cop?
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by akerl_ on Sunday January 08, 2023 @08:18PM (#34305516)
What camera do you use that looks like a gun?
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by ovao on Sunday January 08, 2023 @09:56PM (#34306163)
> they look similar

Insofar as they’re both…objects?

Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by anigbrowl on Sunday January 08, 2023 @10:14PM (#34306281)
They don't need to. While it's unlikely to happen to you, people have in fact been assassinated by others who they believed to be a regular camera crew:

https://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/10/06/bindra....

Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by anigbrowl on Sunday January 08, 2023 @10:16PM (#34306292)
Generally true. But if you decline to engage and they force their company upon you, their behavior becomes unwelcome, and the longer they persist in it the more aggressive their unwillingness to leave you alone becomes.
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by bbarnett on Sunday January 08, 2023 @07:17PM (#34304985)
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by standardUser on Sunday January 08, 2023 @06:08PM (#34304362)
> Best response is to walk away or ignore.

I think this is a good take, but I'd suggest the best response is to address the human being that is addressing you and say "no thanks".

Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by throwaway1777 on Sunday January 08, 2023 @06:35PM (#34304624)
Have you actually tried this? Most of the time the people filming you are not exactly pleasant to deal with and will laugh at you.
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by standardUser on Sunday January 08, 2023 @07:02PM (#34304840)
Then you can proceed to ignore them and/or walk away. Obviously.

And yes, I live in Manhattan and before that downtown SF, so I'd wager I've been confronted by strangers far more often than the average person.

One time I was in some sort of "soap opera" student project where I had to read some lines on tape. Another time a partner and I were confronted coming out of the Museum of Sex to be interviewed about our sex life. A video I was in at a park after Biden was announced the winner went semi-viral. One time at the corner of Polk x Post a man in a car tried to pick me up for sex work! I could go on.

Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by ubermonkey on Sunday January 08, 2023 @06:52PM (#34304768)
Absolutely not. People who take advantage of social mores to force interactions for commercial purposes are not entitled to the same grace and kindness you'd extend to a normal person.

This is why it's entirely okay to just shut the door on salesmen, or just hang up on cold callers. Indeed, that is actually the BEST way, because anything you say or do besides that will be used, by a skilled salesperson, to try and pry open a longer interaction.

These people are operating in bad faith, and should be treated accordingly.

Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by standardUser on Sunday January 08, 2023 @07:05PM (#34304868)
If the cost is too high for you to treat strangers like human beings for a brief moment before brutally judging them, then you can follow the ignore/walk away advice.
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by gdhdjrjrorjrj on Sunday January 08, 2023 @07:22PM (#34305043)
If the film goes viral and that person has that is being filmed has to endure doxing, swatting and other forms of online abuse, then yes the cost could be too high... Frankly the person doing the filming should be asking permission before even filming... They are not treating the other person with any respect.
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by pkulak on Sunday January 08, 2023 @07:11PM (#34304935)
The cost is too high. And there’s nothing brutal about quickly stopping an unwanted, unsolicited, bad-faith interaction. Every person on the planet isn’t automatically entitled to my time.
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by standardUser on Sunday January 08, 2023 @07:17PM (#34304993)
The cost is too high to say "no thanks" instead of completely ignoring someone? And why assume they are acting in "bad faith" before you even know what they have to say? If you want to hide from the world, go for it, but don't pretend the people engaging with the world are the problem.
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by techsupporter on Sunday January 08, 2023 @07:24PM (#34305055)
> but don't pretend the people engaging with the world are the problem.

They are not the problem, in my opinion, but they are also entitled to nothing that I do not choose to give of my own volition. Expecting a response, particularly a polite one, to an unsolicited interaction is on the same level of telling someone that "you'd look better if you smiled."

People are free to be in public but must also be aware of the consequences of their actions. One of those consequences may be that they are brusquely ignored.

If they want to be out in the world, go for it, but don't pretend the people engaging in their own activities are the problem.

Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by ubermonkey on Sunday January 08, 2023 @09:55PM (#34306155)
Yes.

If someone is approaching you in public with a mic in their hand, you don't owe them anything.

If someone cold-calls you for sales, you don't owe them a moment more of your time once you realize what they are.

If someone knocks on your door to sell knives or pots and pans or Jesus, you especially don't owe them anything.

Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by anigbrowl on Sunday January 08, 2023 @10:10PM (#34306249)
If you want to hide from the world

This is a bait-and-switch; you're saying that the person intruded upon has a responsibility to conform their behavior to suit the person who intruded upon them. The poster above said nothing about wanting to hide from the world, you just made that up and ascribed it to them. You might want to review your approach to discourse.

Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by scubbo on Sunday January 08, 2023 @10:11PM (#34306257)
"Engaging with the world" is an extremely euphemistic way to frame "invading others' privacy". Not all forms of "engaging with the world" are positive ones, and holding boundaries about who has your consent to interact with you is not shameful.
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by anigbrowl on Sunday January 08, 2023 @10:06PM (#34306236)
If someone unilaterally sticks a camera in my face and forces their company on me, I feel no obligation to passively refrain from judging those actions. They initiated the situation, so they've waived their right to be be left alone.
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by pwinnski on Sunday January 08, 2023 @07:31PM (#34305132)
Encouraging rudeness is not polite, no matter what words you use. You've made yourself feel better, and made it easier for the intrusive human being to continue to rudely intrude on others.

Ignoring them is best, responding with swear words is second best, and pretending it's a normal human interaction is far, far down the list.

Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by scubbo on Sunday January 08, 2023 @10:15PM (#34306289)
Politeness is not a supreme virtue. These people have already proactively disrespected others by invading their privacy - they simultaneously sacrificed the right to be treated politely. Would you respond to a home invader with a polite request? If not, then we've established that there are situations in which politeness is not required or justified, and now we're just quibbling about which actions justify which responses.

> You've[...] made it easier for the intrusive human being to continue to rudely intrude on others

If you have made them feel uncomfortable - perhaps forced them to stop and confront the discomfort that they are selfishly causing - then this is not, in fact, true. And if this happens repeatedly, they will stop.

Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by Sophistifunk on Sunday January 08, 2023 @08:53PM (#34305763)
The correct response is "fuck off cunt" because then they're going to have to spend a bunch of time bleeping you before any advertising-friendly platform will let you become a meme for their own profit.
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by Animats on Sunday January 08, 2023 @06:32PM (#34304591)
That's a First Amendment issue in the US. What California does is to prohibit commercialization of the result without payment, which is constitutionally OK.
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by braveyellowtoad on Sunday January 08, 2023 @07:19PM (#34305009)
Interesting. Is uploading a video like this to tiktok or YouTube considered commercialisation?
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by nickthegreek on Monday January 09, 2023 @11:28AM (#34312170)
If you monetize it on those platforms it would be.
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by FatActor on Sunday January 08, 2023 @06:22PM (#34304485)
> Unless laws are passed to make filming others in public, this is unlikely to ever stop.

Assuming you mean the USA, the problem is you need people to enforce those laws or succeed with lawsuits (and dodge endless appeals or ascension to the SCOTUS). We can't even begin address gun violence in this country, I highly doubt we'll get consent-to-be-filmed-in-public-laws passed.

Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by balls187 on Sunday January 08, 2023 @07:27PM (#34305088)
Re: Small Claims:

If it’s brought by someone who makes a living by being obnoxious harassing private citizens in public, how much sympathy would that get from the judge?

Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by 323 on Sunday January 08, 2023 @07:50PM (#34305303)
So like paparazzi?

From what I've seen they are pretty well defended by law, including when filming minor celebrities.

Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by balls187 on Monday January 09, 2023 @12:17PM (#34312785)
My understanding is celebrities have a a different legal standard than the public.
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by DoreenMichele on Sunday January 08, 2023 @07:53PM (#34305323)
There are laws. A quick search for "laws about photographing people in public" brings up a bunch of articles including, of course, one on Wikipedia:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography_and_the_law

See also:

https://www.reddit.com/r/WalkableStreets/comments/u9jonf/for...

Edit: this may also be useful:

https://photographybay.com/photography-laws/

Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by judge2020 on Sunday January 08, 2023 @08:00PM (#34305390)
Given " civil liberties and free expression of many", OP is likely speaking in a United States context, where photography in public is always allowed and only some states have 'wiretap' laws that prohibit recording conversations without the consent of all parties. Speaking in a US context and not a global context is a fairly common theme on HN~
Re:Stop Filming Strangers in 2023 by KirillPanov on Sunday January 08, 2023 @08:00PM (#34305391)
> Unless laws are passed to make filming others in public

The law and courts need to acknowledge a third state beyond "in private" and "in public".

Call it "on stage" -- when large numbers of people can see you but you can't see them.

You can disseminate film of people on stage, but not in public.