While people requesting to switch seats with other airplane passengers may not be on the top of your list of worries when it comes to traveling by plane, it’s a hotly debated issue that comes up quite often.
Recently, several news outlets reported on a woman who claimed she was shamed and criticized by other passengers after refusing to give up her window seat for a crying toddler who wanted to sit there.
The woman, who is from Brazil, told the Daily Mail that after she refused to switch seats, another passenger — not the minor’s parent — began filming her without her permission before posting the video online. The woman has since taken legal action against the passenger who filmed her and Brazil’s GOL Airlines, according to the Daily Mail.
A video showing the woman in her seat on the plane made the rounds on X, formerly Twitter. GOL Airlines declined to provide comment to HuffPost.
Whether or not you generally think people should try their best to oblige requests to switch seats when a child is involved, you may have some general legal questions surrounding filming on an airplane altogether.
After all, this incident is one of many filmed controversies on flights. From unruly passengers to questionable etiquette, pressing record during an airline altercation is becoming increasingly common. Is it even legal to do this?
Here’s what attorneys want you to know.
Consider whether other people have a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Robert Baldwin III, founder and managing attorney at Virtue Law Group, explained that U.S. courts consider someone’s reasonable expectation of privacy when hearing legal arguments.
Raymond Ku, a professor of law at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, told HuffPost that airplanes are generally considered a public space, since “you’re in there with lots of strangers, [and] as a result you wouldn’t necessarily have a reasonable expectation of privacy.”
But Ku — whose areas of expertise include constitutional law, cyberlaw, privacy and copyright — cautioned that it depends on what is being filmed.
He said that surreptitiously filming someone seated in front of you would likely be seen by many as an intrusion of privacy even though you’re both in a public space.
“It’s essentially, how far is the camera or the photographer going to capture what’s occurred,” he said. “If it’s something that is visible and is available for everyone to see — or even a large group of people in the area to see…
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