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Zurich nightclub bans photos to protect privacy

The Local
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Zurich nightclub bans photos to protect privacy
The Local would like to point out that this is a file photo and not a breach of the ban. Photo: Bruce Turner/Flickr

"Photos have no place in a club," according to Zurich nightclub Frieda's Büxe, which has banned customers from taking selfies or indeed any kind of photo inside their establishment.

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The club's management made the announcement in a Facebook post addressed to their "dear friends and family", which announced that Frieda's Büxe was to become "a photo-free zone".

"Perhaps a politician, who is just having a night out, doesn’t want to see themselves in the background of a photo," the club explained.

"Each of us enjoys ourselves in a totally personal way. Which is how it should be," adding that some people do not want to see photos of themselves resurface on Facebook.

The rule will be implemented immediately, they said, so that the club could be a place "where everyone can live it up however they want, without having to see themselves on social networks".

The Local was not able to reach anyone from Frieda's Buxe on Tuesday, but Dominik Müller from Zurich nightclub Zukunft told us that his club was not planning to implement a similar policy.

"We have been speaking about this topic for a long time," said Müller. "We do not see ourselves as photo-police. Our guests should have the same freedom they are used to."

He said that Zukunft has not received any complaints about photography, and that the only problem he saw with taking photos in a nightclub was that it was "in the moment". He said: "Capturing this magic with a camera is impossible, but if people would like to try, it’s fine with us."

Frieda's Buxe is not the first club to ban customers from documenting their night out. Legendary techno club Berghain is among several in Berlin which have banned photos, implementing the policy strictly by putting stickers over people's phones upon entry to avoid covert snaps and kicking out anyone who flouts the rules. 

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