Someone taking a photo of you and your car in public

Most weirdest thing happened to me.

This woman was taking photos of my car and possibly myself. She was also taking photos of other cars on the same street
She didnt look like a warden. She was looking like she just came out for a jog.

I confronted her and asked her why she is taking photos of my car and myself
She immediately became agitated and told me its non of my business and started running away from me.

This was at 10-11Pm at night on a residential street.

What the hell is she doing? Is there some kind of reward of reporting cars that are parked on the residential street?
Is she allow to take a photo of other cars and possibly myself without any permission?
Not even sure whether I was parked illegally

Comments

  • +3

    I can see why you’d be concerned, was it permit only parking on the street? Either way that is beyond weird.

    Then again I once had a drunk guy lie down in front of my car until I agreed to give him a lift home, at 2400; as I was knocking off to go home. People be crazy…

    • … Did you actually give him a lift home??

      • +12

        Of course not! He ran him over.

  • +43

    in public

    This is all you need to know.

    • +8

      You could of taken a picture of her too then

    • 100% this

  • sounds sus. hope not scoping the street out

    • Most streets have parked cars…

    • Conducting a perfectly legal activity sounds sus to me too

      • The only sus part is the intent aggression…

        Then again she could've been having a bad day.

  • +10

    Is she allow to take a photo of other cars and possibly myself without any permission?

    In a public space like a street? Yes

    It's creepy but not illegal.

    • What about public space like kids playground ?

      • -6

        Happened before, always Asians and no I'm not racist my wife is Asian.

        • I've never seen an Asian take a random photo of kids in public; typically it's a relation of some type to the kid in the photo.

          Not non-racist, my heritage is actually Asian. (also, saying that you've an Asian wife after that comment, seems to me that you did kinda think it could be a racist comment…?)

        • +22

          Seems like a harmless comment but having a wife of Asian heritage doesn’t mean what you say can’t be racist/casually racist…

        • +6

          A person with a coloured partner can still be a racist.

          • +7

            @whooah1979: Hell, I'm racist against my own race and I'm married to an Asian woman… who is more racist than I am :D

            But I do love the whole idea of a "skip" or "reverse" race card…

            "Oh, I cant be racist. I married outside my own race…"

            • +1

              @pegaxs: Wait I'm so confused… can I be racist if I hate every race equally?

              • +2

                @alienurbanite: That doesn't make you a racist. You're just an "equal opportunity discriminator."

            • @pegaxs: Marriage and sex are the most intimate of human activities. If someone is willing to do them with another person from a different race, it's pretty hard to conclude that they're inherently racist. Perhaps their comments can be perceived as racist, but the original meaning of the word came from people who hated other races so much that they went around killing them. Not a fair comparison.

              Also stereotyping is not racism. Racism is the belief that other races are inferior to yours. Saying something like "All Asians eat noodles" is just misinformed and categorical. It's not racist.

              • @SlavOz: Find me an Asian who does not eat noodles!

              • +1

                @SlavOz:

                Marriage and sex are the most intimate of human activities. If someone is willing to do them with another person from a different race, it's pretty hard to conclude that they're inherently racist.

                Hmmmm…I take it that you've never been married?

          • -1

            @whooah1979: Sexism, on the other hand, only exists in gay and single people.

      • https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-16/what-law-says-about-t…

        But Dr Pappalardo said photography without permission in public is fair game.
        "If it's a public place, you're free to take whatever photos you like," she said.
        Kylie Pappalardo, a lecturer at Queensland University of Technology's School of Law specialising in intellectual property law,

        https://www.macamiet.com.au/2018/07/20/can-a-stranger-take-a…

        Can a stranger take a photo of my child without my permission?
        Yes.
        It is not illegal for people to take photos of your children in public places without your permission.

          • +11

            @seraphim2017:

            they were all deleted before I left!

            I'm picking "things that didn't happen" for $500, thanks Larry.

            If I was taking photos in a public place and someone came up and asked me to delete them, I'd tell them to mind their own (fropanity) business.

            The thing is, the old people taking photos in a public place is legal. What isn't legal, is harrassing those people.

      • +3

        I've always wondered why people immediately jump to this. Nobody cares about your kids, and if they do you or your kid will never ever know or be affected in any way. I've seen some wonderful photos taken by photographers/artists in such places, kids and their innocence etc have always been alluring subjects for photography. If you're worried about pedos you should first question how one seeing your fully clothed child would matter in any way, and then instead be looking to anyone who shows interest in high school students as an adult, they're as common as bin chickens, also your local religious leaders/practitioners.

        • +1

          Years ago I was admin of a large ISP web server for customers.
          One customer was scanning underwear catalog photos of children and posting the pics on his website with comments admiring the child's physical features.

          Things that are legal by the letter of the law can still be wildly inappropriate.

          • +1

            @mskeggs: Inappropriate doesn't necessarily mean harmful.

            Edit to be clear: yes, wildly inappropriate, but he wasn't harming anyone.

            • +1

              @HighAndDry: You have no way of determining if he was harming anyone or not. Isolated to that one action, then no but it's a clear indication of a potential. You never can tell. I worked at the same place as a bloke who turned out to be a pedo. I had no idea. He's still in gaol AFAIK.

              • @apsilon: He may have been harming others, but catalogue photos aren't hurting anyone.

            • +2

              @HighAndDry: I understand and agree with your point, but I can assure you it harmed me (if only my faith in humanity) as a 23yro being exposed to some of these things directly for the first time! My description of "admiring the child's physique" was a G rated version of the actual comments.

              I raise it because I also think it is a great example of where freedoms and 'perceived harm' bump up against each other.
              I found that use of publicly available imagery objectionable, but I don't think the answer is to restrict public images, or criminalise possession of scantily clad images.
              But I can also see that probably the vast majority of ordinary people would disagree and say that kind of activity (the posting/commentary) should be illegal.

              • @mskeggs: have you seen that paymoneywubby video on musically? and his other videos about odd videos on youtube?

        • What about children in protective custody?
          Should those children never be allowed to leave the house, so there is no possibility of their photo appearing online?

  • +1

    Is it an exotic car?

    • +7

      Didn't realise my Bugatti Chiron was exotic.

      • +2

        Depends on the suburb I guess. Parked on the street, it may be considered the Hyundai Accent of the area…

  • +3

    Letting her homies know what's on offer tonight for some good old fashioned boosting

    • +2

      That's not a tool, that's a damn brick!

  • +7

    She could also be filing a complaint with the council about too many cars on the street at night. Not your problem - so don't worry about it.

    • +1

      OP's comment that they didn;t know if they were illegally parked suggests maybe they wouldn't be very happy about night time ranger visits.

  • +9

    told me its non of my business

    She is right.

    Is she allow to take a photo of other cars and possibly myself without any permission?

    Yes.

  • +2

    Location
    gold coast

    Don't you call them meter maids there?

    • +2

      I think we need photos of the meter maids…

      • +1

        I would like to insert my own coins in the coin slot thanks !

  • +1

    Is she allow to take a photo of other cars and possibly myself without any permission?

    What makes you think she would need to ask permission from you? You're in public…

    Does the red light camera need to ask for your permission before taking a photo of you and your car too?

    She has the right to take photos. If you don't like it, that's fine, you have the right to stay away from her or to not go out in public.

    • Yeh, had a white station wagon drive past my car with this huge 360 camera on top of it last week. They didn't ask for permission.

  • +7

    She's just scouting out possible locations for Dirty Mike and the boys to have a soup kitchen.

  • +9

    Should've taken her photo in return.

    • +1

      Actually that probably would’ve been the best idea. That way if something dodgy does go down you can give her picture to the cops. If you, really wanted to be mean, you could post her picture on lamp posts warning people she was sniffing around.

      She may have been doing some surveillance work. Private detective, cops maybe? One of your neighbours might be doing something dodgy.

      It is, perfectly legal, to photograph you, and your property, in public.

      • +2

        I would've. I have a shortcut to the camera on my lock screen for just such an occasion where I need quick access to it. Mostly thinking in event of a car accident in case they try to do a runner etc but if someone was randomly taking photos of myself or my property, as in I/my property is clearly the subject of their photo, I would absolutely take photo/video and ask them what's going on.

      • be careful though, sign posting on lamp posts is illegal.

  • +1

    Probably just another 'Social media influencer' getting some b-roll

  • +2

    have you watched the movie gone in 60 seconds, scout first then boost

    • Gone in 70 Seconds with Nicolas Ca.. wait it’s just an old lady.. and the genius of it is nobody ever suspected it would be her. -Burnout shot in mustang-

      Disclaimer: the time in the title was delayed slightly, to reflect Nicolas Cage having a bit more spring in his step (gone in 60 seconds) compared to an old lady (gone in 70 seconds).

  • +2

    Are you a resident of the street that your photographed vehicle was in?

    I know some residents become overly protective of all parking spaces in the street they live on, such that they often take photos of non-resident vehicles and send to Council expecting them (Council) to go infringe them or remove car based on the photo. This expectation is often exacerbated if the street has parking restrictions.

    • +6

      These people sounds like pita to live next to.

  • -2

    My guess is that she’s collecting photos for either a school assignment or something for work - could be a mock-up for a advertising shoot or something. Clearly embarrassed by it hence why its being done late at night.

  • +2

    Maybe she has a crush on you, taking photos of your vehicle and others is just to throw you off.

  • +2

    I always find it strange how posts here can go so astray from the OP's topic. All this discussion about photos of kids which weren't mentioned.

    Anyway, short answer is nothing illegal in what she was doing and why on earth are you asking us if you were parking illegally - unless you give us more information only you know!!

  • +1

    My guess is that its probably a permit area or restricted parking area and she was a resident. I'd be checking the signs the next time you park there. There's nothing I think they can do with her picture if she sent it to Council. All they can do at the time is send the parking officer down to give ticket.

    I have stalked streets to find where all day parking.

    • This makes most sense to me. Some kind of parking permit dibba dobber.

  • +2

    A neighbor a few years back mentioned someone was taking photos of my car parked on the street late at night.

    Few months later the wheels were stolen and the car left on bricks. Nice surprise heading into work that morning.

  • Yeah this sounds weird.

    I'm actually interested in buying a certain type of car, and when I see one on the street I have a good look at it. Sometimes I've even taken one or two photos so I can learn the different mags / front bars / styling options / etc you get with each year (2014 series I vs 2017 series II) and model combination (premium vs base).

    I have a couple of times had a weird look but it's innocent and if anyone asked I'd just calmly tell them I'm looking to buy the same car as them (and probably even ask how they like the car).

  • Next time take a photo of that person and post it everywhere on the web as payback :)

  • Next time just moon her. Or is it illegal now?

  • My favourite is police yelling at you to stop filming because you’re hindering… from 20 metres away.

  • It's legal and there is nothing you can do about it. She's in public, there's no expectation of privacy in public. Get over it.

  • She has the right to do it if you're in public. I'd have snapped a photo of her just in case there was an issue.

  • Ye it's legal, but if you saw people taking photos of the airport or government building at night would you be suspicious? So why not your own property?

    No harm in reporting suspicious activity to the police.

  • It's not illegal. But this does not mean that it's not suspicious.

    Best thing to do is pull out your own phone and start recording.

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