Gaining consent to take, use and share photos and videos of children
Children should always be consulted about the use of their photo or video and give consent to it being taken, used or shared. For young people under 16, you should also get parental consent before taking a photo or video.
In situations where under 16s are separated from their parents (for example if they are in care) you should seek consent from someone who holds parental responsibility (for example the child’s carer or the local authority).
For 16- to 17-year-olds, you should decide if it’s appropriate to obtain parental consent, depending on the activity and the young person’s circumstances. If you decide you do not need parental consent, then consider whether you should still inform parents that the photo or video of the child is being used or shared. In most circumstances, parents have a legal parental responsibility for their children up to the age of 18.
How to get consent
It’s important to make sure children, young people, their parents and carers understand what they are agreeing to.
• Make them aware that a photo or video is being taken.
• Explain what the image is going to be used for, and how it could be used in the future.
• Ask for their consent to share the photo or video and record this on a written consent form.
• Tell them how long you will keep the photo or video for, why they are being kept for this length of time and what will happen once this period has expired.
• Explain how a child or parent can withdraw consent if they change their mind, and what you will do in response.
• Make it clear that if a child’s photo or video has been used online or in printed publications it will be very difficult to recall it if consent is withdrawn.
Keep a record of the written consent that parents, carers and children have given for images being used.
It’s good practice to share your photography and filming policy statement with children and parents and seek their consent at the beginning of the year. You may also need to get additional consent in specific circumstances (if for instance, you are bringing in a professional photographer or the photos might appear in the local or national media).
What to do if consent isn’t given
If children and/or their parents and carers don’t want to have their photo or video taken, used or shared, you should respect their wishes.
Children should never be excluded from an activity because you don’t have consent to take their photo or video. Instead, you should find a way to make sure anyone filming or taking photographs is aware of who hasn’t given consent for their image to be used. For example, you might want to give children a sticker or a badge.
Consent and data protection
It’s important to make sure children, and where appropriate their parents, agree to the use of their photo or video. However, from a data protection perspective, consent isn’t always the best reason, or ‘lawful basis’, for the use of a photo or video. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) provides advice for schools on deciding the right lawful basis for taking photographs, which may also be helpful for other types of organisation (ICO, n.d.a).
Storing images securely
Photos and videos are classed as ‘personal data’ under the Data Protection Act 2018. Therefore if your organisation stores photos or video recordings of children for official use, you must ensure you are complying with the requirements set out in the Data Protection Act 2018.
You must take steps to mitigate the risk of unauthorised access to and inappropriate use of images of children. This might include:
• storing images in a secure location
• encrypting electronic images before they are stored
• only using devices belonging to your organisation to take and store photos and recordings of children
• making sure anyone who takes or uses images of children for your organisation has permission to do so.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) provides guidance on data protection. (ICO, n.d.d).
Further guidance about encryption (ICO, n.d.e) and data storage (ICO, n.d.e) is also provided by the ICO.