Visual material in education
Sometimes you, as a school, want to make and publish visual material of pupils or employees. For example, for the school newspaper, a facebook, or a board with photos of all teachers of your school. Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), consent is required for this purpose. You must also properly secure the visual material. Especially where pupils are concerned. It goes without saying that the other obligations from the GDPR apply additionally.
On this page
Asking for consent
Do you, as a school, want to make and publish a photo of a pupil aged 16 or over? Or shoot and publish a video in which this pupil can be recognised? For example, on your website or in a (hardcopy) school newspaper? In that case, the pupil must personally give you consent for this purpose.
Is the pupil younger than 16? Then you need consent from the parents.
In order to be valid, the consent has to meet 3 requirements:
- The consent must have been given freely and without pressure being applied.
- The consent must be unambiguous. It must therefore be perfectly clear that consent has been given.
- You have asked consent for a specific processing operation and a specific purpose. For example, for giving all parents an account of a school trip through photos and videos on your website.
Note: withdrawing consent must be just as easy for pupils and/or parents as giving consent. Do (parents of) pupils not give consent? Then this should not have any negative consequences for them.
Different ways
You are free to determine in which way you ask for consent. Provided that you can demonstrate that you have actually obtained this consent. You can do this, for example, by having pupils or their parents fill in and sign a written statement. This is part of your duty of accountability.
You do not have to ask for consent each new school year. You can arrange this, for example, when the pupil is registered. But note: in the case of changes or adjustments to the processing, you, as a school, will have to ask for consent again.
Does a pupil turn 16 during the school period? Then you preferably inform the pupil about the option to withdraw the consent or give consent personally.
In addition, you can choose to periodically inform the parents and/or pupils for what exactly they gave consent earlier.
Properly securing visual material
As a school, you have to take extra measures for protecting the privacy of pupils. That is why it is important that you protect photos and videos against abuse. Moreover, you must be able to demonstrate that you have taken sufficient technical and organisational measures for protecting this visual material of your pupils.
By way of illustration: do you want to give access to visual material to parents and pupils only? Then an appropriate measure could be:
- Placing a portal on your website to which only pupils and parents can log in. In that case, this portal must ne HTTPS-secured.
- Using an app or another online service for determining whom you want to give access to.
When using (free) online services, pay close attention to what the provider does with the personal data. Always read the privacy statement and assess whether you have to conclude a processing agreement