Let’s say you are in a private celebration and you want to take a photo with your friends. You then think about going to the center of the venue with them to take a photo, but you notice that there are a lot of people in the background. May this be a reminder to you that it might land you in hot water in the UAE.
According to an article on Emarat Al Youm, lawyer Noura Saleh Al Hajri said that the number of complaints involving ‘stolen shots’, and selfies in private events, parties, and weddings have increased over the past three years.
Because of the influence of social media, some people make it a point to keep their friends updated on what’s going on with their lives. One way of doing so is by posting selfies of them in an event, in a vacation, and so on.
However, if by chance you have taken a selfie and a person in the background got captured in the shot, and then you uploaded it on your social media account — that can actually put you in jail regardless if it was unintentional or not.
According to UAE law, posting a selfie on social media with a stranger in the background, who was unaware that he/she has been included in the photo, can be considered a violation of privacy, which is a punishable crime.
The law states that anyone who would violate this law can be sentenced to six months in jail and pay a fine of not less than Dh500,000 and not in excess of Dh1 million or either of these two penalties.
