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I was given an address from someone who owes me money. I went to the address and rung the door bell, a lady answered the door. I asked if Tom was there, she replied no and no Tom lives here.

I apologized to the lady and explained to her that I was given this address by someone that owes me money, and that he had obviously misled me.

I said sorry again and went on my way. About two hours later a friend of mine called me and said that someone had posted a photo of me on Facebook asking if anyone new me. My friend knew the person who posted the photo, so they phoned him and told him he new me and I was kosher so remove the photo, which he has now done.

So was it illegal for him to post that photo taken of me without me knowing about it?

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  • In what state did this happen?
    – grovkin
    Commented Sep 21, 2020 at 23:02
  • southampton england
    – ralph roden
    Commented Sep 22, 2020 at 0:02
  • Was the photo of you in a public place, or stood on the doorstep of this house? Or was it captured from a CCTV camera, etc?
    – Matthew
    Commented Sep 22, 2020 at 7:37
  • The question ends (emphasis added): “without me knowing about it”. Knowledge is not the same as consent.
    – Brian Drake
    Commented Aug 9, 2022 at 9:35

1 Answer 1

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If this was anywhere in the United States, it was perfectly legal to post the photo.

The First Amendment allows people to freely share information, including pictures. People commonly believe that they have the authority to control who takes a picture of them and under what circumstances, but that is generally false. Anyone with a camera is generally free to photograph anyone or anything they want out in public.

You've also used the copyright tag on your question. The person who took the picture owns the copyright. Since that's the owner, there's presumably no problem with her posting it. Instead, it would be illegal for you to post that photo without obtaining a license from the homeowner.

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  • Technically, this wasn’t in public as the photo was taken on private property. However, as it was taken with the permission of the property owner, that’s still fine.
    – Dale M ♦
    Commented Sep 22, 2020 at 1:02
  • Not in California: dmlp.org/legal-guide/california-right-publicity-law
    – grovkin
    Commented Sep 22, 2020 at 1:48
  • Not what in California? Not legal or not illegal?
    – bdb484
    Commented Sep 22, 2020 at 12:48
  • @bdb484 re: "If this was anywhere in the United States, it was perfectly legal to post the photo." Not in California. A person owns their likeness and image in California. The link in my 1st comment has the details.
    – grovkin
    Commented Sep 22, 2020 at 14:18
  • 4
    @grovkin Can you claridy how this violates California's law? Your link says "the Right of Publicity in California protects against unauthorized uses of a person’s name or likeness for commercial and certain other exploitative purposes". This use does not seem to fall under these categories.
    – Matt
    Commented Sep 22, 2020 at 16:55

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