Taking a photo in a US supermarket
- By
- Aparna Patel
- |
- 3 Aug, 2023
- |
Hello I have worked as a mystery shopper in the past and was asked to leave stores for taking photos of products on the shelf. Obviously stores don’t want you taking photos of prices or creative displays for competitors’ benefit or maybe spilled milk on the floor that would give them a bad reputation (even though it just occurred). Their “no pictures policy” makes sense. Best to ask first and say specifically what you are taking a photo of, why, and where you are posting the photo.
If in doubt: just ask politely! “This looks wonderful, would it be okay if I take a photo?”. I found that to work exceedingly well in pretty much every country I go to (including the US, Germany Canada, New Zealand, China, Thailand, etc.)
It’s mainly psychological: someone taking a photo without permission or covertly is often perceived as a threat: could be a competitor, could be management, could be the government or regulatory agency etc. Being open, polite and appreciative really changes the mood around this.
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In general, in the US it is legal to take photographs in any “public” property (eg, streets, parks, etc), unless it is somewhere that there would be an expectation of privacy (eg, toilets or changing rooms, etc).
However shops and shopping centers are not “public” property, they are private property that is opened to the public and the rules are thus a little different.
In general it’s still OK to take photos in a private place open to the public, unless you have have been told not to. That might include a sign at the entrance or within the shop saying no photographs, but also includes a representative of the store asking you not to take photos. Legally if you refuse to comply with the conditions of entry – including not taking photos if requested – then you are trespassing and can be asked to leave, or if you refuse the police can be called to remove you from the property.
Supermarkets in particular are normally fairly touchy on the subject of photographs as they have historically been used by competitors, especially for price matching.
It’s private property so they have the right to not allow you to take pictures. If the management/clerk says no then you must comply. However, you could always ask the clerk/manager if you could take pictures.
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘
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