terror warning

[me]

don't know that this would "help" anyone, but i just read at Washingtonpost.com that there are reports:

>Two incidents of "suspicious videotaping" of a European mass-transit system Also in November, three other
>people were arrested after they were seen videotaping a European transit system. They said they were taking
>tourist pictures, but footage showed only a station, the U.S. official said.

[Eagle]

David, this is perhaps a good "heads up" for all of us that want to take photos or videos when we travel. Due to incidents such as those you've described, I imagine the authorities are going to be much more watchful about anyone capturing images, especially where these concern transportation infrastructure.

It's unfortunate that these sleazy bast@#ds are ruining things for the rest of us! I can only hope that the authorities will exercise some discretion in terms of judging who might be a threat when they see someone taking photos, perhaps based on their appearance? I know this could be construed as "racial profiling" but it might be a reasonable approach under the circumstances?

Happy travels all!!!

[WillTravel]

I've been sternly told not to take pictures inside the tram in Rotterdam, and I don't fit any standard ethnic profile of terrorists, so I think they're being pretty universal about this. (After all, even if I am not a terrorist personally, it's quite possible someone who looks like me could be a girlfriend of a terrorist.)

Also, I was sternly told not to take pictures near the synagogue in Rome (which had a terrorist attack about 20 years ago), and I noticed a policeman getting very antsy when I took pictures (unwittingly) near the US embassy in Rome. I totally understand where they are all coming from, so it's a good idea to keep this sort of thing in mind.

[LHR02]

I posted about my experience taking pics of US Embassy in Brussells.....they tried to take my camera. But in Rome I had not a problem at all. It depends.....but generally speaking security is quite antsy about it. Was likewise sternly advised (ahem) to stop taking pics in Cologne train station. It's much like here in US....at Nashville airport, for example, you can usually breeze right through security with little delay....fly out of Atlanta and be prepared to wait, a long time. But agree with previous posters....as a general rule, be descreet and quick about taking pics of mass transport areas as that really seems to send off all sorts of alarms for security. As for David's reports....who knows? I took pics of train stations every where, and I am no terrorist. Could well just be tourists, but these days, you just can't know for sure.

[madamtrashheap]

For a long time there were signs in the London Underground about not using a flash or rather not taking photos on the platforms. Haven't seen any changes to this policy post-July 2005 (Muvva, have you?).

Paris Metro, Munich U-bahn and Berlin U-bahn have never posed a problem for me in taking photos (Rome has, but I was there during 9/11), but again it sounds like European authorities are taking things a little more seriously in light of recent info/reports and are perhaps realising that racial profiling isn't foolproof, as would-be terrorists (I like the way you refer to them Eagle!) are not necessarily from one particular race. A good example (without getting politcal) is a guy held at Guantanamo - David Hicks - or even Richard Reid.

I think it's definitely something worth keeping in mind when snapping away at things we wouldn't normally consider an issue. Gives a whole new meaning to "happy snaps" doesn't it.