Allegations involving hidden cameras, upskirting or sharing intimate images usually come with digital evidence: phones, cloud accounts and messaging apps. The law in this area has changed several times in recent years, so it is important to get advice from someone who knows the current offences and how they are proved.
If the police have contacted you
- Do not attend a police interview, voluntary or after arrest, without a solicitor.
- Free legal advice at the police station is your right, whatever your income.
- Do not contact the person who made the allegation.
- Do not delete messages, photos, apps or social media accounts.
- Do not discuss the allegation with anyone other than your solicitor.
Voyeurism
Under section 67 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, voyeurism covers, for the purpose of sexual gratification:
- observing another person doing a private act, knowing they do not consent to being watched,
- operating equipment so that someone else can observe a private act,
- recording someone doing a private act, intending that you or others will look at the recording, and
- installing equipment or adapting a structure, such as a hidden camera, so that you or others can do so.
A "private act" includes being in a place where you would reasonably expect privacy while your genitals, buttocks or breasts are exposed or covered only with underwear, using a lavatory, or doing a sexual act not normally done in public. The maximum sentence is two years.
Upskirting
Section 67A, added in 2019, makes it an offence to operate equipment or record an image beneath someone's clothing to see their genitals, buttocks or underwear, without their consent, where the purpose is sexual gratification or to humiliate, alarm or distress them. The maximum is two years.
Sharing intimate images
Since 31 January 2024, the main offences are in section 66B, introduced by the Online Safety Act 2023. They replaced the previous "revenge porn" offence. It is an offence to:
- share a photograph or film that shows, or appears to show, someone in an intimate state, without their consent and without a reasonable belief that they consent. This is the base offence, triable only in the magistrates' court;
- share one intending to cause alarm, distress or humiliation, or for sexual gratification. These are more serious, with a maximum of two years; and
- threaten to share one, intending or being reckless as to whether the person will fear the threat will be carried out. The maximum is also two years.
"Sharing" is broad and includes sending to one person, posting online and showing someone the image on a phone. There are limited exemptions in section 66C, for example some images taken in a public place where the person had no reasonable expectation of privacy, and the base offence has a defence of reasonable excuse.
Related offences
- Cyberflashing, sending unsolicited images of genitals: see our indecent exposure page.
- Images of under-18s, which are treated as indecent images of children however they were made: see our indecent images page.
- Harassment, stalking or controlling behaviour, which are often charged alongside threats to share images within relationships.
Possible defences
- Consent or reasonable belief in consent to the sharing, for example in an ongoing exchange of images.
- Purpose: for voyeurism, the prosecution must prove sexual gratification; for the more serious sharing offences, the required intention or purpose.
- Not a private act or intimate state, as defined in the Act.
- Attribution: whether you were the person who took, shared or posted the image, especially with shared devices or hacked accounts.
- Reasonable excuse, which is available for the base sharing offence.
These cases depend on digital evidence. See our guide to digital evidence in sexual offence cases, and do not delete anything.
What sentence can you get for voyeurism?
Under the Sentencing Council guideline for voyeurism, the offence range is a fine to 18 months' custody. The starting point is 26 weeks' custody for category 1 cases (raised harm and raised culpability), a high-level community order for category 2, and a medium-level community order for category 3. Recording, distributing images and targeting vulnerable people increase the seriousness.
Convictions can also bring notification requirements and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. See our pages on the sex offenders register and Sexual Harm Prevention Orders.
The investigation
The police are likely to seize phones, computers and cameras, and may request data from cloud and social media providers. Interviews are often delayed until devices have been examined. A solicitor can attend interview with you and advise on how to respond: see our guide to police interviews and our page on being released under investigation.
Frequently asked questions
What is the law on "revenge porn" now?
The old offence of disclosing private sexual photographs was replaced in January 2024. Sharing an intimate photograph or film of someone without their consent is now an offence under section 66B of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, whatever the motive. Threatening to share one is also an offence.
Do deepfakes count?
Yes. The intimate image offences apply to images that "show, or appear to show" a person in an intimate state, which covers edited and AI-generated images. Parliament has also added an offence of creating a purported intimate image of someone without their consent, under section 66E of the 2003 Act.
Do they need to prove the image exists for a threat?
No. For threatening to share an intimate image, the prosecution does not have to prove that the image exists, only that you made the threat intending, or being reckless as to whether, the person would fear it would be carried out.
Will I go on the sex offenders register?
It depends on the offence, the motive and the sentence. Voyeurism carries notification requirements where the victim was under 18 or the sentence reaches certain thresholds. For upskirting and intimate image offences, notification is generally linked to cases involving a sexual motive. A solicitor can advise on your position.
What if the person consented at the time?
Consent to an image being taken is not the same as consent to it being shared. For the basic sharing offence, the prosecution must prove the person did not consent to the sharing and that you did not reasonably believe they consented.
How we help
We are a referral service, not a law firm, and we do not give legal advice ourselves. When you contact us, we pass your details in confidence to an independent solicitor who specialises in sexual offence defence, so they can contact you directly. We cover the whole of England and Wales, including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and every other area we cover.
This page is general information about the law in England and Wales, not legal advice. Last updated 11 November 2026.