Privacy line / 5 minutes
The window is not an invitation
A person can be visible without being available. Distance, glass and a public setting do not erase the need for permission.
Visible does not mean public property
A rooftop or lit window can be seen from many places. That fact does not grant permission to zoom, record, identify or redistribute the person in view. The ethical question is not whether the camera can capture the image. It is whether the person agreed to become its subject.
Long lenses compress distance and can hide the photographer from the subject. Use that effect only in a planned set where the position and framing are understood.
Remove clues before sharing
Skylines, hotel signs, balcony numbers and reflections can reveal a location. Check the background at full resolution, remove location metadata and delay publication if the image was made somewhere temporary.
An anonymous portrait can become identifiable when combined with a timestamp or a public travel post. Think in combinations, not only in individual files.
Keep attention from becoming contact
Do not treat an image as an invitation to identify or message the person shown. The photograph is the experience being offered. Access to the person is not part of it.
The clean boundary is simple: admire the frame, respect the subject and leave private information private.