Photographs of children and parental consent, done properly

Aug 29
3 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

Introduction

A form at registration asks whether the setting may take photographs. A parent ticks yes, thinking of the daily updates on the app, and later finds their child on the setting's social media and in a printed brochure.

They did consent, technically. They did not consent to that, and when they say so the setting discovers that a single tick box cannot support four different uses. Consent for images of children is both a legal obligation and a trust matter, and the two point to the same answer: be specific.

1. Photographs of children and parental consent require separate permissions

One question cannot cover every use.

Internal records, the parent app, a display in the building, your website, social media, printed marketing and press are meaningfully different. Asking about each separately takes one extra minute at registration and prevents nearly every dispute that follows.

2. Make refusal genuinely cost-free

A condition of valid consent.

A parent who declines must not find their child excluded from activities or missing from the daily updates other families receive. If refusing has a consequence, the consent given by everybody else is worth less, and the setting has a problem beyond the individual case.

3. Handle group photographs deliberately

Where most settings come unstuck.

One family's refusal affects every group image. Deciding in advance how you will manage this — positioning, cropping, or simply not using group shots externally — is far easier than discovering the problem with a photograph you have already published.

4. Record what was agreed and when

The record is the protection.

Which uses, on what date, and by whom. Consent given four years ago by a parent who no longer has the same views is weak ground, and a setting that cannot show what was agreed cannot defend a decision.

5. Let consent be withdrawn easily

An obligation, not a courtesy.

Parents can change their mind, and the process for doing so should be simple and known. That includes knowing what you will do about images already published, which is a question worth answering before somebody asks it.

6. Control what staff do with their own phones

The most common weak point.

Personal devices should not be used for photographs of children, and this needs to be a stated policy with an alternative provided. Images on a member of staff's phone leave the setting when they do, and no consent covers that.

7. Be careful with parents photographing at events

An awkward but necessary conversation.

At a concert or sports day, other people's children appear in every photograph. Setting an expectation beforehand about personal use rather than social media, and reminding people on the day, is more effective than a rule announced afterwards.

8. Store and delete images properly

The part that gets forgotten.

Where images live, who can access them, how long they are kept, and what happens when a child leaves. A folder of photographs going back nine years is a data protection issue that grows quietly until somebody asks about it.

9. Check what your jurisdiction actually requires

Rules differ and they change.

Data protection law, safeguarding guidance and any sector-specific requirements all bear on this, and they are not the same everywhere. Confirm the position that applies to you rather than adopting a policy copied from another setting in another country.

Review consents annually rather than only at registration. Families' circumstances change, sometimes for safeguarding reasons that the setting is not told about, and an annual confirmation is a short task that keeps the records genuinely current.

Conclusion

Ask separately about each distinct use rather than seeking one blanket permission.

Make refusal genuinely free of consequence, decide in advance how group photographs will be handled, record precisely what was agreed and when, provide an easy route to withdraw consent, prohibit personal devices and supply an alternative, set expectations with parents before events rather than after, define how long images are stored and when they are deleted, confirm what your own jurisdiction requires, and review consents every year.