Ex-cop tells of grandson’s match photo veto (From Oxford Mail)

what a load of b...ocks! P.C. gone mad again. In so many areas now the lunatics are running the nut house!

If you cannot take photos of your own children, why is a professional photographer allowed to take hundreds of pictures at all the local 6 a side tournaments.Do they get permission from every parent there !! i think not.

Well, if the PC brigade can con a retired chief superintendent, what chance has Joe Bloggs got?

There is NO law which prevents the taking of a photograph in a public place and it is perfectly legal to take photographs of school events such as sports days and performances. If anyone tells you otherwise, ask them to quote the relevant legislation.

It is forbidden in some shopping malls to take photographs as they are private property to which the public is admitted under licence.

The PC jobsworth who prevented Mr Stevenson from taking photographs should be asked to account for his actions. He has ruined the day for both Mr Stevenson and his grandson.

I am disappointed the Oxford Mail has not explained the law in detail on this one as it would help lots of people deal with the self-appointed PC 'guardians'.

The following is from the Office of The Information Commissioner.

"Data Protection Good Practice Note

Taking Photographs in Schools

This Good Practice Guidance is aimed at Local Education Authorities and those
working within schools, colleges and universities. It gives advice on taking photographs in educational institutions and whether doing so must comply with the Data Protection Act 1998.

Recommended Good Practice

The Data Protection Act is unlikely to apply in many cases where photographs are taken in schools and other educational institutions. Fear of breaching the provisions
of the Act should not be wrongly used to stop people taking photographs or videos which provide many with much pleasure. Where the Act does apply, a common sense approach suggests that if the
photographer asks for permission to take a photograph, this will usually be enough to ensure compliance.
• Photos taken for official school use may be covered by the Act and pupils and students should be advised why they are being taken.
• Photos taken purely for personal use are exempt from the Act.
Examples
Personal use:
• A parent takes a photograph of their child and some friends taking part in the
school Sports Day to be put in the family photo album. These images are for personal use and the Data Protection Act does not apply.
• Grandparents are invited to the school nativity play and wish to video it. These images are for personal use and the Data Protection Act does not apply.
Official school use:
• Photographs of pupils or students are taken for building passes. These images are likely to be stored electronically with other personal data and the terms of
the Act will apply.
• A small group of pupils are photographed during a science lesson and the
photo is to be used in the school prospectus. This is unlikely to be personal data and the Act wouldn’t apply.
Media use:
• A photograph is taken by a local newspaper of a school awards ceremony. As long as the school has agreed to this, and the children and/or their guardians
are aware that photographs of those attending the ceremony may appear in the newspaper, this will not breach the Act
Further Information
If you require any further information about this or any other aspect of Data Protection,
please contact us using the details below:
Web: www.ico.gov.uk
Email: mail@ico.gsi.gov.uk
Telephone: 01625 545700

I challenge anyone to provide details of legislation which contradicts this statement - Don't bother looking - there isn't any.

Quent. Exactly there are too many people in all walks of life that try to bully us into things quoting non-existent legislation. If we all gen up a bit, and start to question the "officials" you may find that everything from banning the gentlemans photos to your lasest parking fine may be open to argument and repealed. It is a shame he deleted the pics, but I am sure his g,son will make a few saves next week, and when some busybody tells him to stop, he will now know what to do.

Lots of primitive people object to the taking of photographs of them because it steals their souls. I expect this "manager" was a practising Aztec or Inca. The Detective Chief Superintendent should think himself lucky he didn't end up in a casserole

How sad has a society become, when a grandfather is told not to take photographs of his own grandchild playing football, without prior permission of other kids parents (assuming that they were even at the match).
Sure, there is a very small risk that somebody, would perhaps take photos of these kids for illicit purposes.
Then again, if a person was desperate enough to want to take such photos, what is to stop him/her from using a telephoto lens, whilst parked in a car several hundred metres away.
Please let's not allow our society to become so paranoid, that we even have to consider stopping a gentleman from taking a few snapshots of his grandson on a football field...common sense is required instead of common fear.

At least he didn't get arrested!
http://www.theregist
er.co.uk/2009/07/15/
tall_photographers/

And then it hits what society has been headed for the last twenty years or so, guilty until proven innocent. The main reason we are all considered criminals is that when such persons are caught they're often let out on license, short sentencing, suspension, fine, caution instead of being locked up and serving their time. Therefore there are more criminals among the rest of us. Go back to putting criminals away and accepting the vast majority of the populace are simply honest decent people who don't deserve to be considered criminals. If you are treated as such, so you become.

Remember that peadophile spoof TV show Brass Eye? Watch it again. It has a lot of truth in it.

What is our country coming to?