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Can a private investigator take pictures of you?

Grant White • 3 July 2019

Yes, a private investigator can take photos of you... but it depends.

Yes, in the UK, a private investigator can take pictures of you.
A commonly asked question online is: "Can a private investigator take pictures of you?".
The answer is, YES. A private investigator can take pictures of you as long as you don't have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Let's look at a few examples to see if they would be legal.

1. The Suspicious Spouse
 Spouse is worried that her husband is cheating, she hires a private investigator to gain evidence through covert surveillance. A private investigator takes a photograph of a girl meeting her husband outside of a fast-food restaurant and then leaving together in a car.

Did he have a reasonable expectation of privacy when out in public?

No. This was perfectly fine for the private investigator to take a photograph.

2. The Farmer and the Produce

A farmer has some concerns about high value produce going missing. He suspects that some of his workers are stocking away produce and passing it over the fence to a waiting car in order to resell later. A private investigator keeps a close eye on the workers and the adjacent road. He gets a snap of the farm workers one-by-one passing bags of produce to the individual over the fence.

Was there a reasonable expectation of privacy on the part of the workers?

No, the field was clearly visible from the road and surrounding areas, there was no reasonable expectation of privacy.

3. The Business Deal

A businessman is meeting a potential business partner on the third floor of his apartment block. This apartment cannot be seen from the road as it it too high up. As an investigator, you decide to attach your video camera to a pole to capture footage of whatever is going on inside the apartment.

Did the pair have a reasonable expectation of privacy?

Yes, the apartment was 3 stories high and did not expect passers by to be snooping around on their actions - especially with a large extendable pole.

Hopefully you have a clearer view of the legal boundaries private investigators have to consider when using covert imagery to capture footage for a client.

For those who are on the receiving end of an investigation, it might be worth it to double check you are not doing anything in public you would not want people to find out.

Operant Investigators strives for all information to be accurate at time of writing.
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