on youtube I watched a British reality show about airports and (mostly foreign) passengers being searched for anything illegal.

What I find troubling is that many of these passengers speak very little English and find it difficult to articulate an answer to what officers ask in English. I remember an Indian national who didn’t speak any English that though he had the right visa to work in the UK, only to find he had been duped by an Indian scammer and was refused entry. He started crying and the crew filmed the whole scene.

This is humiliating to say the least and I wouldn’t want this to happen to me if I visit the UK. My questions:

  • Should a reality crew start recording me, do I have a right to my image and can I tell them to stop recording me? Do tv crews respect that?

  • What about the police? Can they record my face, even if I don’t consent?

  • I also have a cultural question: If an officer at a British airport asks you if he can search your luggage and you say no and you ask him if you are under arrest, what happens then?

  • @ObMEnglish
    7•11 months ago

    In about 2014 we flew through an airport where some of these “customs” types shows was being recorded. They had signs up everywhere (I think in multiple languages) saying “episodes of _____ are being recorded here. If you do not wish to be recorded please talk to the crew” (or something like that).

    But who knows what they’ve filmed for their cut-away shots, from the far said of the arrivals hall.

    I guess you should expect shots of you walking to be ok. But probably have the right to opt out of having your “case” filled.