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Filmer des personnes

Arabie saoudite : peut-on filmer des personnes, et peut-on publier ?

Il s'agit d'informations générales, pas de conseils juridiques. Chaque affirmation renvoie à sa source primaire. Vérifié le 2026-10-17.

Cette page n'est pas encore traduite ; elle est affichée en anglais, la version vérifiée à partir des sources citées.

La photographie dans l'espace public est en général autorisée, mais la loi contre la cybercriminalité punit l'atteinte à la vie privée au moyen de téléphones équipés d'un appareil photo ainsi que la diffamation, et la PDPL considère les vidéos publiées comme des données personnelles.

Puis-je filmer des personnes dans l'espace public ?

The Ministry of Media's official encyclopaedia says photography in public places "is not prohibited except in specific areas" and "is permitted in public places unless a sign prohibiting photography is posted". The exception it names is photos, including with phones, that invade privacy or defame or harm people (Saudipedia).

That comes from نظام مكافحة جرائم المعلوماتية (the Anti-Cyber Crime Law, Royal Decree M/17 of 2007). Article 3 punishes with up to one year in prison and/or SAR 500,000, among other things, "invasion of privacy through the misuse of camera-equipped mobile phones and the like" (item 4) and "defamation and infliction of damage upon others through the use of various information technology devices" (item 5); Article 13 allows the phone to be confiscated (official translation; Ministry of Media summary). The statute does not define "invasion of privacy" or separate public from private places, so the result depends on the facts. The word "misuse" points at filming someone against their wishes or in a private setting rather than at wide street shots, but no official text draws that line.

Organised shoots are different: the Film Commission (Ministry of Culture) says "a permit from The General Commission for Audiovisual Media (GCAM) is required for shooting in a public location", and drones need a civil-aviation permit (Film Commission FAQ). This concerns productions, not personal phone videos.

Puis-je publier la vidéo ?

Posting a recognisable person is "publishing" personal data under نظام حماية البيانات الشخصية (the Personal Data Protection Law, PDPL, Royal Decree M/19 of 1443H as amended). Article 1 counts "photos and videos of an individual" as personal data and defines publishing as "making available any personal data using any written, audio or visual means". Article 5 bars processing without consent except in listed cases; Article 6(4) allows a legitimate interest that does not prejudice the person and involves no sensitive data; Article 10(2) allows collection from publicly available sources (PDPL).

The law excludes processing "for purposes that do not go beyond personal or family use, as long as the Data Subject did not publish or disclose it to others" (Article 2(2)); the Implementing Regulation adds that "an individual publishing Personal Data to the public" or using it for "professional, commercial, or non-profit purposes" is not personal or family use (Article 2) (Implementing Regulation). A vlogger posting publicly is therefore inside the PDPL, which the Saudi Data and AI Authority supervises (SDAIA).

The Anti-Cyber Crime Law adds Article 3(5), defamation through IT devices, and Article 6(1), up to five years and/or SAR 3,000,000 for material that impinges on public order, religious values, public morals or privacy (official translation). Posting footage to mock or shame someone risks both.

Qu'est-ce qui change pour les enfants ?

No Saudi statute deals specifically with photographing children. نظام حماية الطفل (the Child Protection Law, Royal Decree M/14 of 1436H) defines a child as under 18 and counts among abuse "exposing a child to obscene and criminal scenes or other scenes inappropriate for his age" and "any act that may threaten the child's safety or physical or psychological wellbeing" (Article 3) (Child Protection Law).

Under the PDPL, consent for a person lacking legal capacity comes from the legal guardian (Article 5(1)); the Implementing Regulation requires the guardian to act in the child's best interests and says the consent "shall not cause any harm to the interests of the Data Subject" (Article 13) (PDPL; Implementing Regulation). Ask parents before posting other people's children.

Usage privé ou publication

Recording for yourself and keeping it within your family or close circle is outside the PDPL, provided you do not publish or disclose it (Article 2(2); Implementing Regulation Article 2) (PDPL; Implementing Regulation). The Anti-Cyber Crime Law is different: Article 3(4) targets the misuse of a camera phone to invade privacy, so secretly filming someone in a private setting can be an offence even if nothing is posted (Art. 3).

Publishing changes the analysis: the PDPL applies in full, you need consent or another legal basis, and the defamation and public-morals offences in Articles 3(5) and 6(1) come into play (official translation).

Ce que change le floutage des visages

SDAIA's Implementing Regulation says anonymised data "shall no longer be considered as Personal Data", but only if "re-identification of the Data Subject is impossible after Anonymisation" (Article 9), and it defines pseudonymisation as converting identifiers into codes (Article 1) (Implementing Regulation). SDAIA's anonymisation guideline (August 2024) repeats that data must be "irreversibly anonymized, rendering the data subject unidentifiable", and says pseudonymised data "is considered personal data" (guideline).

A blurred face alone rarely meets that bar when voice, clothing, companions, location, a car plate or a caption remain, so the clip usually stays personal data. The Anti-Cyber Crime Law has no blur exception; blurring lowers the chance of identifying and harming someone, which privacy and defamation complaints rest on, but is not a defence in itself (Art. 3). Blur, strip audio and names, and still ask when a person is the subject.

Là où le droit reste incertain

The only official statement we found that photography in public is generally allowed is a Ministry of Media encyclopaedia article, not a regulation, and no statute defines "invasion of privacy" (Saudipedia; Art. 3). The official laws portal (laws.boe.gov.sa) could not be reached from our network, so the text used is WIPO Lex's copy of the Bureau of Experts' official translation (first edition, 2009); the Arabic governs. The Ministry of Media's summary adds that a sentence for Article 6 offences may order publication of a summary of the judgment at the offender's expense, which that 2009 text does not contain (Ministry of Media summary). The Film Commission's FAQ names GCAM as the permit authority; check which body issues permits before an organised shoot (Film Commission FAQ). We found no stable official page on photographing worshippers at the Holy Mosques and Hajj sites.

Sources

Quelle que soit la règle là où vous filmez, flouter les visages pour lesquels vous n'avez pas de consentement est le moyen le plus simple de rester du bon côté avant de publier. Anonimo le fait sur votre iPhone, sans envoyer la vidéo en ligne.

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