We went to a new restaurant last night. It was great food. So, I "liked" their FB page to get coupons. I saw tonight they have taken pics for their page of a celebration and other partron are inside and I have to assume they did not all agree to the photos being posted. (yeah, they may have gotten permission, but for argument's sake, I will say they did not...the pics of some are unflattering (people in mid-bite of food).

So, my general question is: Do you think people should be photographed without consent by the establishment, with intent to post said pics online, when dining out?

It's not a big deal to me but it could be to others so I say not without the person's consent. If they post signs that warn you may be photographed and you don't leave it can be argued that you've given implied consent.

Shale wrote:

Then there is the thing of confidentiality. You do not know who is eating with whom that should not be eating together. Must be small town not to even think that ppl eating out might want some discretion.

Excellent point. This could lead to a very unfortunate situation.

I think they do, but they should always be courteous enough to ask.

hmmmm... in public you really have no right to privacy. however, if the restaurant was making money off the image, then i could see a problem arising because the patrons were not getting paid to "model" for the ads etc. interesting question.

would i be pissed if my pic was on FB with linguini hanging out my mouth??? hell ya. would i sue? no.. just never go there again and bad mouth them.

once took a class that said that one good experience from a customer creats 3 dozen more customers due to word of mouth marketing. However, one bad experience can keep over 100 potential customers away as the bad experience spreads!

The restaurant should be mindful of what kind of pictures would be online, if it was distasteful or whatever, but in general...I don't think there's a problem with it.