Your photos taken without your consent may be posted, sold online; but it’s not a crime

In a report by CityNews, Amanda Geischen, in an interview shared that she feels “unsafe” after discovering a Tiktok account posted a video of her walking and suggestively focusing on particular parts of her body. All this, without knowing. (Pixabay photo)

A woman from Vancouver found photos and footages of herself circulating online. But the thing is she does not know that these were being taken at all.

In a report by CityNews, Amanda Geischen, in an interview shared that she feels “unsafe” after discovering a Tiktok account posted a video of her walking and suggestively focusing on particular parts of her body. All this, without knowing.

Geischen said that it is an invasion of privacy.

“Not even just for the photos that were posted of me on social media on an account I’m not aware of, actually on multiple accounts I’m not aware of, but also in the sense that this person followed me home,” she said in the interview.

“They know where I live. They know where I go,” she added.

Geischen elaborated that she found several videos, one with her walking her dog, and another of her shopping.

“I don’t even know how they got those angles. I don’t even know how I didn’t notice that there was someone that close to me,” she said.

The footages were also traced back to a website where it can be purchased. Hundreds of more women were caught in the hidden cameras as well.

However, CityNews’s interview with International CyberCrime Research Centre Director Richard Frank revealed that this is not exactly a crime.

“The people being videotapes might feel threatened, in which case it’s leading up to assault. But aside from that, they’re recording in public, and that doesn’t seem to be a crime,” he said.

Frank said that it is a different case if minors are involved, however, it “can be difficult” to prove that someone is minor in some footages.

Aside from this, the director also said that depending on the country that the person or website is located in, “there a good chance we can actually reach that person, or ask for the content to be removed from that server.”

Meanwhile, in the same report, Sgt. Aaron Roed of the Vancouver Police Department said that “Voyeurism and people taking photos is a very gray area and we don’t want people to investigate themselves.”

According to Roed, taking photographs in public is not illegal and every incident is going to be taken on its own merit.

“But if they are taking it in a way where safety may be an issue, with children, or taken in a sexually explicit manner, we want the Vancouver Police to be aware, to be noticed so we can attend and investigate these incidents,” he added.