Almost immediately the new guidelines have drawn criticism.

"New police photo advice inaccurate" says the NUJ

Whilst recognising the rights of photographers to take photos in public places, the guidance goes on to inaccurately say that, under section 43 of the Terrorism Act 2000, police can demand to see the images that have been taken.
Under the section such a demand can only be made where the person is suspected of actually being a terrorist.
Roy Mincoff, NUJ Legal Officer, said: “The police know that we have very significant concerns around these issues, yet they have issued guidelines without any prior consultation.

"The Met's attack on photographers. The police take on anti-terrorism laws is creating a hostile environment for photography in London's public space" says Mark Vallée in the Guardian Comment is Free section.

Today the Metropolitan police service (MPS) issued advice to the public and the media on photography in public places. It details the Met's interpretation of anti-terrorism legislation, and how these laws should be used against photographers. Professional photographers such as myself view it as part of an ongoing campaign to create a hostile environment for photography in the public sphere.
The advice covers section 44, section 43 and section 58a of the Terrorism Act 2000 (58a is more commonly known as section 76). On sections 44 and 43, the MPS say that "officers have the power to view digital images contained in mobile telephones or cameras carried by a person searched".
Hickman & Rose's Anna Mazzola argues this advice is highly questionable as it "does not take into account the fact that such images may be protected journalistic material – for example, special procedure material."

If all this seems confusing and contradictory, it's because not even specialist lawyers seem to understand the torrent of badly-drafted anti-terror legislation nor the implications for photographers. If they don't, there is zero chance police on the streets or pro photographers, let alone amateurs, will be clear about what is and isn't permitted.

"Question 19: Search and seizure. Photographer David Hoffman wants to know whether his memory cards can be confiscated by police" is answered by Liberty lawyers at The Guardian Comment is Free site.

DavidHoffman asks: I'm a professional press photographer and an NUJ member. Under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 my memory cards or film are protected as "special procedure material" and cannot be taken from me by a police officer on the street.
Under section 43 of the Terrorism Act 2000 they can be seized and retained for examination by a police officer.
What is the position if an officer demands my memory cards and I do not wish to hand them over?
We picked this question from last week's Q&A because it required a longer answer than we could manage during the live session...

The Liberty lawyer concludes :

The risk of refusing to hand over your camera is arrest, in which case although you may well have a subsequent remedy (or several), it is likely that your memory stick and film would have already been taken. Worse is to come, since the Counter Terrorism Act 2008, part one contains broad powers (not yet in force) to remove documents (including information stored in electronic form) for examination in suspected terrorist cases and contains even fewer safeguards than the CJPA 2001 provisions.

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