ACCS/info Bulletin 23/19

Wed, May 22nd, 2019

The Secretary,
Board of Management and
School Principal in
each Community and Comprehensive School.

Members of the Executive of ACCS.

ACCS/Info Bulletin 23/19

Re: Taking Photographs at School Events

The Data Protection Commission recently released a useful blog post in relation to the confusing issue of taking photographs at school events, in the context of the GDPR. You can read the entire blog post here: https://www.dataprotection.ie/en/news-media/blogs/taking-photos-school-events-where-common-sense-comes-play

The key points are:

  • There is nothing under the GDPR preventing the taking of photographs in a public place. It is what you do with that photograph that can potentially become a data protection issue.

  • Family and friends taking photos at school events to have a record of their own child or loved one, can rely on the so-called “household exemption”. This is where the photo is for their own use only. This could even extend to where the photo is shared and posted on social media, although if another child is included in the image, and the parent of that child requests it to be removed, then common sense and common decency should prevail.

  • Where a school takes official photographs at school events for use on its website, newsletter, for publication in local media etc., the school must be able to rely on one of the six legal bases for processing this personal data.

 The most appropriate legal bases on which schools can rely are Consent and Legitimate Interest.

Where a school chooses to rely on consent then it must be freely given, specific and informed. This consent may be obtained at enrolment and retained on students’ files over their lifetime in the school. A parent/guardian or indeed a student may withdraw their consent at any time.

Remember that photographs may also be taken of parents and staff, so if relying on consent it needs to be gathered from all individuals. A parent/guardian can give their consent as part of the enrolment process as above. Staff consent can be obtained when a person is appointed to the school.

Note that you must continue to gather consent from individuals for sharing their photograph with ACCS for use on its website.

Where a school chooses to rely on Legitimate Interests the school must be able to demonstrate that a documented balancing exercise was carried out, weighing up the legitimate interests versus the need for consent. A full explanation of this exercise is provided in the blog post.

Wording to be Provided to Individuals when relying on Legitimate Interests.

If you decide to rely on Legitimate Interests, you must be transparent and share an explanation with individuals. You may also to publish the explanation in your Journal, and on Enrolment Forms and in your online Privacy Statement.

The explanation could read as follows:

Use of photographs for yearbooks, social media, website, etc.: Photographs, and recorded images of students may be taken at school events and to celebrate school achievements, compile yearbooks, establish a school website, record school events, and to keep a record of the history of the school.

These purposes are of legitimate interest to the school and therefore do not require the consent of the individuals. Legitimate Interest is one of the 6 legal bases set out in Data Protection legislation on which the school can rely for processing the personal data of individuals.

You must also include the second paragraph of the above explanation in your Data Protection Policy at Appendix 5 Personal Data and Related Processing Purposes, at this section highlighted in red:

Use of Photographs for yearbooks, social media, website etc

Photographs and recorded images of students may be taken at school events and to celebrate school achievements, compile yearbooks, establish a school website record school events, and to keep a record of the history of the school

  • Consent to use (for these purposes) images or recordings in printed or digital format.

  • Separate consents will be sought for different publication forums. (NB This excludes CCTV recordings – see school CCTV policy

Note that it may be appropriate to rely on Legitimate Interest in some circumstances, and consent for others, and so you may also need to retain your explanation of consent in the Data Protection Policy, alongside the addition of Legitimate Interest.

Is mise,
le mór mheas,



_________________
John Irwin,
General Secretary ACCS.

Paul Thornton