Hungarian law bans photos taken without consent

I travel frequently and have erased Hungary from my list. This law was written by idiots who do not want to preserve the history of Hungary through photography. Can you imagine a world without street photographers? I had several carabinieri descend on me in St. Peter's Square in Rome for using a tripod without Vatican permission. I was able to talk my way out of it because I speak Italian. I sometimes feel that by banning photographers, more books and postcards will be sold to increase profits.

Why don't they just ban cameras from being sold in Hungary?

These laws in various forms also exist all over the European Union, including Greece, France and Germany. These privacy laws exist to protect powerful elite politicians and also enable the police to harass photographers. In Greece, it's technically illegal to take pictures of any building because the law says the architect has copyright over the image of their buildings, there is no freedom of panorama in Greece. Similarly, there are vague privacy and data protection laws that enable powerful elites to harass journalists and photographers. These laws are applied against photographers the government doesn't like. The European Court of Human Rights has also taken anti-photography and anti-freespeech views. There are powerful elites in Europe who don't want a free press. Local police officers often harass photographers. I plan to emigrate to America and become an American citizen and do my street photography there because of the First Amendment. I don't feel free as a photographer in EU.

If they're a party to the Bern Convention, is this even legal?

Russia should just annex this country since it is still run by Putinesque commies.

When I was young one of my favs was a hungarian-Kertesz, who I think was Cartier-Bresson's biggest single influence too. I'm sure Ken Livingstone definitely affected tourism by asking everyone to report any man seen taking photos in parks to the police (sexist idiot!) thereby discouraging every foreign visitor, and we are the most paranoid nation on Earth :everyone is a paedophile if you have a camera and are a middle-aged MAN. If you are a woman you can, of course do what you like, and the media-corrupted rest of the population, who think its perfectly OK when they take pictures of your kids. The double standard here is worse than the hungarian situation which has at least consistency in its favour!! It will definitely kill tourism if enforced, and you cannot enforce it sucessfully- you'd have to arrest and subpoena the entire population, as subjects and as photographers, the courts would be permanently jammed with trivial unecessary cases, so let them go right ahead!!

This isn't much different from the laws that have been in effect in Germany for almost as long as there is photography.

As in the case of Hungary, this law was originally not intended to protect individuals but powerful men and women, police officers, and other public servants from repercussions of someone recording their misdeeds. It was originally passed because Paparazzi had photographed the body of Chancellor Bismarck lying in wake and could not be forced to not publish the results.

Germans have adapted. It's a massive issue for street and architecture photographers and there's constant legal wrangling about what the law precisely means and allows or not, but we do what Hungarians will do, likely, too - we go to Austria to get street shots :)

All photogs should boycott Hungary. Period!

Nothing to do! That's why they have stupid ideas!

Idiotic laws take turns not only in Russia :)

Basically we have a man called Lajos Simicska here, one of the richest and most influental man of Hungary, and a very close friend of the prime miniseter Viktor Orban since the university. Simicska lives very much in the background for a decade (althought his companies wins billiobs of euros of public money every year since Orban is the prime minister), basically it made to frontpage when after like 8 years a photographer could actually take a picture of him last autumn. The next day it was announced that there will be a law to "protect privacy", and now here it is.
Rumors say when Simicska has a meeting in public place, he doesn't speak but pass little pieces of paper hidden under his palm to his partner...like in some retard maffia movie. In the previous Orban period Simicska became the head of the national tax authority, and on the very first days of his new role the shredders were working all night there destroying previous reports about his own companies.

I live in Hungary, maybe i can help you guys understand the reason of this law. Those who guessed it might be that politicans currently ruling Hungary aren't the best friends of transparency and publicity are close to the truth. The history of this law is so typical and says so much about the current state (capture) of Hungary that it worths to know. Since 2010 when they were elected, this government sistematically attacking the freedom of press, opressing opposing media, turns public media their own propaganda channels, and created the most questonable media law of europe ( see eg, http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/01/07/hungary-media-law-endangers-press-freedom ), and now we are at that stage that reported frauds of the incoming elections are ignored by the authorities.

Does this law also make CCTV cameras illegal in Hungary?

here's a solution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rafa2010/sets/72157642608943283/

Hungary has been erased form my international destinations. Sad!

No Google Glass in Hungary....

I'm Hungarian, but I live in a second biggest Hungarian city (London). For some reason every year thousands of Hungarians leave the country. Probably they don't want to work for 250 Euros per month with a degree. They would rather work in West EU countries in a coffee shop or swiping street for much more money.

It's reassuring to come to the realization that politicians in other countries aren't any brighter than they are in the US

Doesn't this in theory rule out all holiday photos you might take?

Another reason why smart phones will survive and traditional cameras will die out. Authorities cannot possibly police everyone who appears to use a phone, even if some snap pictures.

Public opinion at large, not just in certain countries, holds casual public photography in contempt. It is on par with soul-snatching or humiliation of the subjects. Property owners fear they will be reported for code violation or illegal renting. Spouses, employees, or public functionaries fear photos will be used as evidence of misbehavior. An Iowa law makes unapproved photography of farm property a felony, since someone was taking pictures of migrant worker shanties, confined animals, or manure dumps and run-off.

Trouble, trouble, trouble. Ban cameras. Out of sight, out of mind. Or wink and nod.

Meanwhile, there is widespread support for official or owner video surveillance of public spaces, workplaces, and private property of any sort. Might makes right.

I think the law is targeted at Paparazzi . Now the politicians don't have to worry about sex scandals when they went out with their mistresses since nobody are allow to take their photos :)

landscape pictures from hungary will never look so good

Hey you s holes.... Do anybody want me to prove that you all have it wrong!
I can go out taking photos today and post it for public!
But than, all you have to shoot your stupid mouth up and apologize for stirring sh..t!
Waiting for challenge!

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Putin.

Putin, who?

Are you put in me on?

No, no pictures! Is anyone else with you?

Yes. Knock knock.

Who's there?

Ann Nex.

Ann Nex who?

Annex you!

Annex me what?

Annex you because there are some Russians in your photo who didn't give permission to have their photo taken!

Welcome comrade, at Hungary we like your style. Can we restart the ovens?

No that's in bad taste. Lets start slowly, first we'll come for your cameras, then we'll come for you.

Who thought up this nonsense?

Alec Baldwin! He's in the SS!

SS as in Schutzstaffel?

Close, but no -- SS as in stupid schmucks!

Give me your camera, you're under arrest!

What for?

You just shot a selfie without getting permission.

should arrest those who don't wear a niqab.

This will certainly put a damper on their tourism industry. Maybe when the tax revenues diminish, the government will think again about this law.

In the early days of photography, the people of some cultures would not allow their pictures to be taken, as they thought that part of their spirits would be stolen. Maybe this is the beginning of a regression back to that philosophy?

exactly the same law applies in Austria. according to the personal data protection law, you have to get the consent of the people that show up in your photo or film, or make their faces unrecognisable.

one consequence is that dashcams are forbidden in this country...

Maybe I'm out there, but...

It's astonishing to me that people see this an anything other than a tool in the toolkit of what by many accounts is a repressive authoritarian regime. The law is not aimed at you, taking pictures of landmarks. It is aimed at political enemies. They take a picture of unsavory activities, maybe police beatings, and the government pulls this law out of their pocket, which makes it look (to the naive) like they are protecting the public's interests, and not their own.

There are a series of media-driven laws like this around the world. Google "Ecuador Communication Law" if you're unclear on the concept.

"The bride and groom have signed the nuptial papers... why are all these people in the church lining up to sign too?"

"Aah! That is the Hungarian Waiver Clause document! In this case, it is 10 feet long, based on the number of guests..."

.

will i finally be able to sue somebody for taking photos of my dog?

What a strange thing to do.
I wonder if this applies to CCTV, video, CC stills (which most CCTVs seem to be).
I wonder if it applies to the police.
I wonder if Hungary used to have a tourism industry.

Mass disobedience required methinks. Hungary seemed like such a nice, sensible place a few years ago when I was there, and I'm sure at heart it still is. They need to be careful not to prepare the ground for Putin even before he rolls the tanks up to the border.

Ask permission?

Are you freakin' serious?

Do you know how hard it is to chase a 9 year old across a soccer field after a match, to ASK him?

How about his team mates and the team they beat to a pulp? Ever try chasing them?

.

Google has hard time to translate from Hungarian so here's my NOT official translation of the quoted part (I'm Hungarian so I understand it):

2:48. Law about image and sound recording
(1) To record and use an image or sound recording of somebody you need the consent of the given person.
(2) Consent of the affected person is not required in the case of recording groups (calls them here as 'mass') and on public events.

My comment on it:
This law is 'vague' as you say as all of our recent laws. The reason for it is that the governing politicians reserve the right for the authorities (=themselves) to interpret the laws according their interest.

One thing is sure: they don't have to apply this law but if they choose to do so, you have no chance to protect yourself if you're sued.

Hungary passes this new bill in accordance with a world-wide consensus that NSA and other surveilance bodies should be the only ones keeping photos or videos for memories ...

Say an armed robbery is taking place, should the photographer come out of his hiding place and shout:
"WAIT!!! CAN I SHOOT YOU ALL?"

This a sad tendency in my country (I left 10 years ago and probably won't move back). This is just another part of the antidemocratic movement of the Orban regime.

Communism returns slowly but surely in the region .

so if there is a demonstration or a rally, the photographer has to ask everyone's permission first before he starts snapping away? what about a Hungarian election?

"under the new law it would be legal for police or other security officers to prevent photography where non-approved subjects might be included"

That's not quite correct - police don't have such powers. The actual problem with police is not that they can *prevent* photography or confiscate gear (they can't) but that they have the same right to their likeness as everybody else, so they too can file a *civil* lawsuit against the person who photographed *them* (which is bad enough, of course). See http://www.photographyblog.com/news/did_hungary_just_kill_photojournalism/