[andersa]

> What if you're in the photo?

Blur that region before posting it with an algorithm that can't be reversed. The camera app could even do this automatically.

> What if you're doing something newsworthy?

Every good rule has some exceptions.

[crazygringo]

Sorry. I just don't think parents at the park who take photos of their kids and share them on a public site with friends should be legally required to blur any passerby's face or go to jail.

If they want to do it voluntarily then great. But making it criminal if you don't -- I don't understand that.

[zmgsabst]

Why shouldn’t they be fined for invading someone else’s privacy because they’re too lazy to touch up the photos on their phone? — why should their laziness negatively impact others use of public space?

You’re just making an argument for inconveniencing others out of laziness — but trying to dress it up in principles.

[crazygringo]

Because it's a right to be lazy. And thank goodness it is.

You can inconvenience other people in a thousand different ways every day. And should be allowed to.

The idea that laziness or inconvenience ought to be outlawed... do you realize what you're saying? The kind of police state you're envisioning?

This is a principled thing. What's next, I get fined for walking slowly on the sidewalk? For holding up the line at the supermarket for a price check? For paying in dimes instead of dollar bills? Think about the legal principle you seem to be suggesting.

[zmgsabst]

We have numerous laws that ban those things in shared public spaces:

- littering

- jaywalking

- excessive noise

Etc.

And we impose fines for all of those — under the consistent logic that you can’t infringe on others use of public space with your own.

I’m glad that you can admit this is not about your usage of public spaces though — it’s just about you wanting to be a nuisance to others without consequence.

[crazygringo]

No, it's not about wanting to be a nuisance. Please don't claim I said things I didn't.

It's about not wanting to outlaw every possible nuisance. And you're right -- we do outlaw plenty of things. But we also have to draw the line somewhere.

Jaywalking is a great example. It was finally repealed in NYC. Since it's fundamentally a pedestrian-first city.

And public photography is one of those things where it's such a tiny nuisance, and the cost of regulating it would be so onerous, that we wisely choose not to.