Should You Be Required to Obtain Permission before Posting Photos of Others?

Your friends or followers on social media sites instantly can view photos you post. If others are included in the photo and you post it without their permission, they might feel you have violated their privacy. Tagging people in a photo may create a link to their social media profiles, exposing their identity. Depending on your privacy settings, your friends contacts can view a photo you post and/or share the photo without your permission. You can use Facebooks privacy settings to approve all photos in which you are tagged. The person posting the photo still can upload the photo, but your tag will not appear on the photo until you approve it. Facebook also allows you to report a photo as abusive if you feel it portrays you negatively or if the person who posted it refuses to remove it upon request. People may not want photos of themselves posted for a variety reasons. They may have professional contacts as friends on their social networking site and do not want to show themselves in a personal setting. Others are not concerned with personal photos of themselves being posted but do not want their childrens photos shared online. Or, they simply may find the photo unflattering. Before you post a photo of others or tag people in a posted photo, consider whether they would approve the photo. If you are unsure, consider contacting the other parties before posting the photo.

Is it ever acceptable to post photos of others without permission? Why or why not? Has someone posted or tagged you in a photo that you did not want others to see? How did you handle the situation? If asked to remove a photo or tag, would you respect the persons feelings and honor the request? What restrictions and policies should social media sites have about posting photos of others?