Desk research against primary sources. Figures are traced to the issuing UAE authority and linked on the page.
The law protects the person photographed, not the location, which is why a wide street scene can be lawful while a photo focused on one identifiable person in a public square is not — the test is whether someone in the frame can be recognised, not whether you were standing on public land when you took it. Emirati women and children are treated as a particularly sensitive category in enforcement even though the underlying rule applies to everyone.
Posting is treated as a separate act from taking the photo, and it is usually the posting that triggers a complaint, since that is the point at which the subject or someone who knows them actually sees the image. Deleting a photo after taking it without consent removes the evidence but not the offence already committed, so the safer approach is to ask before you press the shutter, not to review and delete afterwards.