Skip to content

Not yet reviewed by a lawyer. Sourced information, to be confirmed.

Film the police

Key points

  • Filming the police is legal: do it, it is often the only evidence.
  • Turn on encrypted automatic backup, including over mobile data.
  • Film continuously, with context, framed on the officers, not on protesters.
  • Keep the original untouched and get a copy off the phone as soon as possible.
  • Before publishing: blur anything that identifies a person and remove metadata.

Film police interventions, always. It is legal in France: officers on duty have no special right over their image, and the freedom to inform prevails.12 This footage is often the only evidence of violence or of an inaccurate police report; France's Défenseure des droits calls it "very useful".3

But footage can also expose protesters. Film the police, protect the people.

Before: automatic backup

If your phone is seized, broken or stolen, footage that wasn't backed up is lost.

  • Turn on automatic backup of photos and videos, including over mobile data: by default it often only runs on Wi-Fi.45
  • Choose an end-to-end encrypted service (Ente, Proton Drive, or iCloud with "Advanced Data Protection"): otherwise the provider can access your images and may be required to hand them over.67
  • Before the protest, check that a test photo shows up in the cloud over 4G/5G, with Wi-Fi off.

During

  • Start before the action if you can, and film continuously: what comes before and after matters as much as the act itself.8
  • Show the context: a street sign, a landmark, the time on screen or said out loud.8
  • Frame the officers: actions, weapons used, unit, ID number (RIO) if visible. Avoid the faces of protesters and of people being arrested.9
  • Why avoid faces, even if you will blur them afterwards: blurring only protects the published copy. The original, which must be kept intact, still contains the faces, and it can be seen if the phone is seized, or passed on to the legal team and to a lawyer. Avoiding faces while filming reduces that risk. It is not a ban: filming a public protest is still allowed.10
  • A face you cannot avoid (crowd, an injured or arrested person): don't seek it out, keep the original intact and show it only to the legal team or a lawyer; publish only a blurred copy without metadata. A victim's face can be part of the evidence.
  • Hold the phone horizontally and steady; keep your distance, don't obstruct the intervention.
  • Don't stop filming if told to without reason: it is your right. Stay calm and polite.1

Right after: keep the evidence

  • Never edit the original (no cropping, no filter): its metadata (date, place, device) is what makes it evidence.11
  • Get a copy off the phone as soon as possible: send it to the legal team, a lawyer, or encrypted storage. A phone can be seized or broken.12
  • Write down the time, exact place and what happened before the recording started.
  • An app like ProofMode adds verification data proving the file has not been altered.13

Publish without exposing

  • Publish a copy, never the original.
  • Blur everything that makes a person identifiable, not only faces: tattoos, haircut or hair colour, recognisable clothes, bags or shoes, badges, banners bearing a name, voices (mute the sound if needed). Signal's blur tool helps with faces; the rest is done by hand.14915
  • Strip the metadata from the copy (mat2): it reveals your location and device.16
  • Also blur police officers' faces before sharing, as a precaution, unless their face is needed as evidence: then keep the original intact and give it to your lawyer or the legal team. Sharing information that identifies or locates a person in order to expose them to a direct risk of harm is an offence; blurring removes any ambiguity.17
  • Don't publish officers' personal details (name, address, family): exposing them to a risk is an offence, even though filming their intervention is legal.17
  • Archive the post (yours, or an official statement) with the Wayback Machine or archive.today: it stays available if deleted.18 Never upload raw footage showing faces to a public archive.

Pass it on

  • To the legal team and the arrested person's lawyer: footage can change the outcome of a trial.
  • To the Défenseur des droits for misconduct by security forces.19
  • To a media outlet or an observatory (LDH) if you want to document publicly.

Tools to film and archive in the directory

In one of these situations? witness to police violence · filming or holding videos · a journalist or press photographer · kettled by the police · witness to an arrest or close to someone arrested

Sources

Each note links to the source of the information. Most sources are in French. Laws change: check the date of the source and, if in doubt, ask a lawyer.

  1. Amnesty International France — Filmer, photographier, enregistrer les forces de l'ordre · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩

  2. LDH — Filmer les forces de l'ordre (2021) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  3. Weka — Filmer la police : la Défenseure des droits réclame « le retrait » de l'article de loi · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  4. Apple — Set up and use iCloud Photos (cellular data) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  5. Google Photos Help — Back up photos and videos (mobile data) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  6. Apple — Turn on Advanced Data Protection for iCloud · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  7. Apple — iCloud data security overview · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  8. WITNESS — Video as Evidence Field Guide · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩

  9. WITNESS — Filming police abuse · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩

  10. Service-Public — Right to one's image and privacy · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  11. WITNESS — Video metadata · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  12. WITNESS — Video archiving · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  13. ProofMode · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  14. Signal — Blur tools · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  15. EFF Surveillance Self-Defense — Attending a protest · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  16. mat2 — Metadata Anonymisation Toolkit · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  17. La Grande Bibliothèque du Droit — Le doxxing (article 223-1-1 du Code pénal) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩

  18. Internet Archive — Save Page Now · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  19. Défenseur des droits · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

SOS