Originally Posted by
Bobster
When I saw the video on TV I just assumed that TSA must have obtained signed releases from all the recognizable people. Don't tell me that was another myth busted.
Of course, Google has now set the precedent that everybody everywhere can be displayed to the world without getting their permission. Maybe that was TSA's logic.
You seem to be starting with the presumption that displaying someone's face in a video or picture requires their permission. That is usually not the case.
There are two potential state law doctrines applicable here: right to privacy and right to publicity. The former is not going to apply to folks who simply walk through an airport. They are in a very public place and cannot reasonably expect their presence there to be a private fact.
The right to publicity laws of various states relate to the
commercial use of a person's likeness. TSA's use is not commercial, and in any case, the Supremacy Clause and the federal government's inherent sovereign immunity prevent any state right to publicity laws from subjecting the federal government to liability.