The lawyer appreciated the legality of the work of street photographers taking pictures of strangers

The law does not prohibit photographing people in public places, as long as it does not violate the right to privacy and the person is not the main subject of photography. Ilya Vasilchuk, a judicial lawyer and an expert on the security of electronic transactions, told about this on Wednesday, June 17.

According to the expert, in case of misuse of the images, a citizen may demand their removal and compensation for moral damage.

"If a photographer takes pictures of a particular person with the aim of further selling photos to him, then without obtaining the prior consent of this person, he violates the law and may be held responsible for this, up to criminal punishment provided for in Article 137 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Violation of privacy," Vasilchuk said in an interview with Lenta.Ru .

He added that when filming takes place in a public place, the photographer can say that his original purpose was not to shoot a particular client, and can offer to buy "accidentally" the resulting beautiful photos.

In this case, there is no criminal liability, but the potential buyer has the right not only to refuse the purchase, but also to demand the removal of the photo and the suppression of its further distribution, reports RT.

Vasilchuk also said that if a picture has already been published on the Internet, a person has the right to demand its removal and a ban on further distribution.

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In January 2026, the State Duma restricted journalists' access to the balcony from which the plenary sessions were filmed.

Psychologist Elena Loseva appreciated the initiative of State Duma deputies to ban the publication of retouched photos on dating sites. According to the expert, this offer will not affect the "reliability" of dating sites. She stressed that each of the registered users decides for himself which photo to display.