Ladies be careful out there.
https://www.torontosun.com/2012/10/09/toronto-women-in-creepshots
Many Toronto women have unwittingly ended up in “creepshots,” which are now posted on the Internet.
People can view candid shots of attractive women — doing such things as buying coffee, paying bus fare and other mundane acts in public places — through an online forum on the website Reddit.
The subjects are unaware that their images are being taken by clandestine photographers.
While the majority of the site’s contributors are American, many photos have been posted by a user named CreeperComforts — in Toronto.
And it’s all legal.
The Toronto photographer’s pictures and online tips on taking “sneaky shots” sparked the cautionary post by anonymous user throwawaybew: “Please, be careful, and to the men of Toronto, warn your friends!”
She said she knows CreeperComforts’s identity but doesn’t want to start a “witch hunt.”
“Of all the cities in North America, somehow he’s in Toronto, he’s taking these shots near where I study, and I just wanted to spread awareness to people about ... this guy,” she said.
CreeperComforts defended his work, saying the streets are fair game.
“The short and skinny of it is if you are walking around in public, you will be photographed dozens — if not hundreds of times a day — by store security cameras, traffic cameras, even the news with their B-rolls for the nightly broadcast,” CreeperComforts wrote to the Sun.
“So, if that’s the case, why can’t I also take your picture?”
Along with other users, throwawaybew is trying to close down the forum.
However, it’s not a criminal offence to photograph someone in public, said Toronto Police Const. Tony Vella. “But if you take a photograph of a person in a public forum for a sexual intent, it’s a criminal offence,” Vella said.
The forum’s moderator stressed there are rules: No “upskirting” and no minors.
“The vast majority of the pictures here don’t even show the face of the subject,” he wrote. “We celebrate beauty.”
Submitted photos must also be candid and can’t be taken in a place where a reasonable amount of privacy is expected, such as public restrooms or backyards.
Lawyer Shaya Silber said Ontario’s privacy laws cover an individual’s right to privacy regarding finances, private correspondence, health records, employment and sexual practices.
“It would be hard to argue that taking photos of someone in public would fall into any of those exceptions and even if it did, you’d have to still prove that the reasonable person would consider the invasion highly offensive, causing distress, humiliation, or anguish.”
https://www.torontosun.com/2012/10/09/toronto-women-in-creepshots
Many Toronto women have unwittingly ended up in “creepshots,” which are now posted on the Internet.
People can view candid shots of attractive women — doing such things as buying coffee, paying bus fare and other mundane acts in public places — through an online forum on the website Reddit.
The subjects are unaware that their images are being taken by clandestine photographers.
While the majority of the site’s contributors are American, many photos have been posted by a user named CreeperComforts — in Toronto.
And it’s all legal.
The Toronto photographer’s pictures and online tips on taking “sneaky shots” sparked the cautionary post by anonymous user throwawaybew: “Please, be careful, and to the men of Toronto, warn your friends!”
She said she knows CreeperComforts’s identity but doesn’t want to start a “witch hunt.”
“Of all the cities in North America, somehow he’s in Toronto, he’s taking these shots near where I study, and I just wanted to spread awareness to people about ... this guy,” she said.
CreeperComforts defended his work, saying the streets are fair game.
“The short and skinny of it is if you are walking around in public, you will be photographed dozens — if not hundreds of times a day — by store security cameras, traffic cameras, even the news with their B-rolls for the nightly broadcast,” CreeperComforts wrote to the Sun.
“So, if that’s the case, why can’t I also take your picture?”
Along with other users, throwawaybew is trying to close down the forum.
However, it’s not a criminal offence to photograph someone in public, said Toronto Police Const. Tony Vella. “But if you take a photograph of a person in a public forum for a sexual intent, it’s a criminal offence,” Vella said.
The forum’s moderator stressed there are rules: No “upskirting” and no minors.
“The vast majority of the pictures here don’t even show the face of the subject,” he wrote. “We celebrate beauty.”
Submitted photos must also be candid and can’t be taken in a place where a reasonable amount of privacy is expected, such as public restrooms or backyards.
Lawyer Shaya Silber said Ontario’s privacy laws cover an individual’s right to privacy regarding finances, private correspondence, health records, employment and sexual practices.
“It would be hard to argue that taking photos of someone in public would fall into any of those exceptions and even if it did, you’d have to still prove that the reasonable person would consider the invasion highly offensive, causing distress, humiliation, or anguish.”
