As a PS to this, I’ve just seen some pictures on a favourite photography site of a local shoreline taken from a drone.  These were of areas adjacent to my local nude beach (North Cotes) and the beach was clearly included....  So, I was also wondering if anyone had had a close encounter with drones and what people’s views on them might be.

A couple of summers ago we had a drone flying quite low over our garden when we were naked - very irritating but not much we could do about it.

Don't forget that if you're walking anywhere near a road there are dashcams too. You never know who is grabbing a quick shot using their phone.  Go on a busy beach these days and you will end up on someone's holiday snaps.

I've posted pictures of myself naked on line which have been seen by thousands of people.  Does being captured on someone else's camera make that much difference?

Just because there are hundreds of cameras around, very few have a human looking at what they are recording live.

Only if there is an incident (a report of a naked man perhaps) will the footage ever be looked at.

I've posted pictures of myself naked on line which have been seen by thousands of people.  Does being captured on someone else's camera make that much difference?

The odds of someone who knows you coming across your pictures online are fairly remote (even if they deliberately searched). But the footage on home security cameras is almost the opposite - there is a much higher chance they'll spot a naked person and will:
a) Feel concerned, especially if it happens at night
b) Try to find out who it is and have the matter investigated

I could imagine this being portrayed in emotive terms, e.g. "prowling the neighbourhood naked".

In my opinion it's better to pick a context where motives are clear and to be as upfront as possible if you're going to be naked in public, e.g. protests like the WNBR or natural environments like the beach. Yes, people will take photos (and usually laugh a lot) but it's also generally quite good-natured when everyone clearly understands what's going on. But I think it could be quite frightening to come across someone walking naked in the dark, especially if they seem to be wary of others.

The odds of someone who knows you coming across your pictures online are fairly remote (even if they deliberately searched).

That depends if you want your photos found by search engines. I dont do photography to keep my images hidden.  😉

It is actually illegal for a security camera to record anything outside private property without a special licence for which you will have to satisfy GDPR regulations.

If that’s true John, why do police officers spend hours trawling through the footage, or is that just a Tv fiction?

It is true, but TV dramas don’t always worry about the truth. Anyway, the CCTV they look at is usually traffic cams and other “official” sources. More to the point, people who install home CCTV often aren’t aware of the law and can be careless about where they point their cameras. If someone spots a night naturist on their camera feed and prompts, as Ralph put it, “prowling the neighbourhood naked” headlines, I doubt anyone will question whether the camera was licenced and would concentrate on the “naked prowler”.

I have walked naked around my village many times at night and there are loads of security night lights, if I have been photographed as well tough as they say so far so good.

the vast majority of cameras put on private dwellings are put there as a deterent,  indeed a lot are dummies, even if tyeyre actually working nobody actually looks at the recordings.

its the same with security lights , they go on but very few leap out of bed to peer through the curtains to see if it was next doors cat that triggered them.

if you keep your face turned away they aint going to be able to prove it was you anyway

As a PS to this, I’ve just seen some pictures on a favourite photography site of a local shoreline taken from a drone.  These were of areas adjacent to my local nude beach (North Cotes) and the beach was clearly included....  So, I was also wondering if anyone had had a close encounter with drones and what people’s views on them might be.

A couple of summers ago we had a drone flying quite low over our garden when we were naked - very irritating but not much we could do about it.

I have had a drone fly over my back garden from a neighbouring house a few summers ago whilst sunbathing naked.I just waived to it.

When I posted this I hardly thought I’d provoke so many interesting and varied responses.  Too many to respond to individually, but a couple of thoughts. 

I certainly didn’t know it was illegal for a private security camera to film outside private property, John – assumed that it would fall under ‘public domain’. 

Again, I assumed that drones over public areas would be ‘public domain’ and just have to (pun alert) grin and bear it...  But if they are over your private garden there is definitely cause for complaint for invasion of privacy if you know who’s flying it.  I was under the impression that drone pilots required permission for private land flying as well as having safety restrictions for public areas, needing RC licenses etc..  (Guess this doesn’t count for non-licensed idiots)  I’ll have to ask

PS – Just had a peek at the law regarding my previous comments....

Update – Drones:

From 30 Nov 2019 drone users will need to be registered and have passed a basic test..

https://www.caa.co.uk/Consumers/Unmanned-aircraft-and-drones/

Update – Security cams:

If recording outside own property, ‘data protection law’ (GDPR) as a ‘data manager’ applies and a sign needs to posted to the effect that CCTV is in operation. 

https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/domestic-cctv-systems-guidance-for-people-using-cctv/

Of course, all this is just academic – Being naked is not a crime.

Interesting to read what the ICO says but for a somewhat different view about videos and photographs of people in public places see:
https://www.devon-cornwall.police.uk/advice/your-community/taking-photographs-in-a-public-space/