Photography and the use of images in school and recreational activities

In the places of work of the City of Reykjavik's school and recreation departments, children are protected by the law on privacy and privacy.
In Act No. 90/2018 on Privacy and Processing of Personal Data (Privacy Act), personal data is defined as any personally identifiable or personally identifiable information about the data subject, i.e. information directly or indirectly attributable to a specific individual, deceased or alive. A person is considered personally identifiable if they can be identified, directly or indirectly.

According to the definition, photos and videos can be included here if the person being photographed can be identified, and the photographed person can be said to carry his or her information. The taking of photos or videos and the use, sharing and disclosure of video material may therefore constitute processing of personal data that falls within the scope of the Privacy Act and must therefore be complied with.

Authorization for the processing of personal data of school and recreational establishments in connection with snapshots and the publication of footage is based, in some cases, on the informed consent of the parents, cf. Point 1 Article 9 of the Data Protection Act.

The capture and use of video material, such as for use in the electronic information system of the place of employment, (Mentor, Learning Fuse, Valais Recreation or Valais Kindergarten), in children's wardrobe compartments and in the context of students' educational and project work is based on the need to comply with legal obligations, cf. Point 3 9 of the Privacy Act, although in exceptional cases this may be based on parental consent.

Photography and the use of video material to ensure the prevention of life-threatening diseases such as paediatric anaphylaxis and epilepsy and the correct reaction of employees to these are based on the need to comply with the legal obligation and the urgent interest of the individual, cf. Points 3 and 4 Article 9 of the Data Protection Act.

If there is a perceived need to share information about children electronically, it is desirable to use software that ensures the responsible parties control over the personal information shared. Facebook and similar media are not covered there. It must be ensured that the information is not communicated to unauthorised persons, is not processed for purposes other than those with which it was proposed, and is adequately safeguarded. In this case, it must always be ascertained that prior authorisation for the processing is available under privacy law. However, places of employment are not responsible for processing images by parents or other persons.

It is an irreducible condition that personal data is processed in a lawful, fair, transparent and secure manner and not beyond what is necessary. In this case, all their processing shall be in accordance with the careful processing of personal data and the basic requirements of Article 8 of the Privacy Code.

For the avoidance of doubt, children may not be photographed in play or employment without the permission of the Facility Manager or their supervisors. The same applies to the display of footage.

In cases where parental consent must be obtained1, it is understood that in the case of minors, as in the case of children, their parents are entitled to consent to the processing of information. Prior to consenting, the Facility Manager is required to provide the Registered Parent (hereinafter, the Parent) with sufficient information regarding photography and image processing, such as the purpose thereof, the recipients of the information, and more. Otherwise, image use is not considered compliant with privacy laws.

The parental consent form should meet the above criteria. Images may not be used for purposes outside the scope of consent. If footage is used for any other purpose, or if a photo shoot is planned for a purpose outside the scope of consent, parents must be informed and explicit consent obtained. The revocation of consent by the parent does not affect the legality of the photography and video presentation that has taken place up to that time. If the consent has not been revoked, it is valid while the child in question is enrolled in kindergarten, primary school, recreational home/community centre work, school band, etc.

1. A parent is the person who takes the foresight of a child under the Children's Act.

However, parents must always consult with their child about their issues as the child's age and development warrant.

When it comes to photography and video, children have the right to express themselves. The simplest is to request consent from the children, taking into account their age and maturity. It should be borne in mind that children may have an opinion about them or their portraits, despite their young age, and their views should be taken into account.

Children must not be photographed in play or employment without the permission of the site manager or their supervisors. The same applies to the display of footage.

School and recreational administrators are responsible for the capture and display of images at their place of employment, including compliance with the requirements of the Privacy Act, other applicable laws, and these guidelines. Managers are therefore responsible for obtaining informed parental consent when appropriate.

Managers in school and recreational settings are also responsible for the transmission of photo and video information to parents and children, and for not taking or posting pictures of children contrary to their or their parents' will.

The directors shall respect the will of the parents and children unless they do not request that pictures be taken of them or published.

In the event of publishing images of children in school and recreational activities in published material, parents should be informed and their informed consent should be obtained prior to discussion of consent in item 2 of this guide. This is especially true if an image of one child or two that is recognizable in the image is to be displayed.

Caution and grooming

Care and caution should be exercised in all photo and video shoots of children in school and recreational settings and in complying with the Privacy Act and Information Act No. 140/2012. The focus should be on what the children are dealing with.

Respect

All photo and video shoots, whether in an open or locked area, should be governed by the principle that children and young people should never be shown in a provocative, humiliating or inappropriate manner, e.g. not taking pictures of naked children or children in vulnerable situations.

Name not specified

When posting footage, there is no mention of the name or other information except in special circumstances, such as when a child wins a prize or makes a public appearance on behalf of their school.

Children's right to self-determination

For all photo and video shoots, the right to self-determination of children and young people should be respected. This means that their attitudes must be duly taken into account according to their age and maturity, such as requesting their oral consent for photographic and video presentation on a case-by-case basis.

Equivalence

Imagery should ensure that there is gender balance and that the proportion of girls and boys in images is as balanced as possible. As a good practice, we are happy to publish group photos of children and youth from the school and recreational sectors, and seek to reflect the diversity of the child population, whether they are images on an open or locked site.

Off-site devices should be used.

All photography of children in daily school and recreational activities should be carried out using a device owned by the relevant school and recreational facility. Employees are not allowed to take photos and/or videos of children on their own devices.

Image collections of school and recreational activities shall be stored in a closed controlled access area. Social media is not considered a safe place to save footage for school and recreational purposes. Access shall be restricted to personnel who require access to video material for their duties.

The places of employment of the school and recreation are obligatory persons under the Public Archives Act, No. 77/2014. As a result, they are not permitted to delete documents and data received or generated by them, unless authorised by the National Archives on the basis of the Archives and Records Management Policy or special provisions. The obligation to submit also includes the submission to the City Archives of documents and records received from the sites or that will be generated by them. When it comes to footage, the selected footage is returned to the City Archives and the return can either be in the form of printed images or on paper or in electronic form.

It is assumed that footage is returned to the City Archives when it reaches the age of 20, in accordance with Article 15 of Law no. 77/2014 on public archives and approved for the Civil

Facebook and similar media

The Privacy Commissioner has issued recommendations to kindergartens, primary schools, recreational homes, sports clubs, and all other public and private bodies involved in working with children that they do not use Facebook, or similar communication media for the sharing of personal information about minors, whether general or sensitive.

The Privacy Commission has reiterated its recommendation that schools and other organizations working with children should not use Facebook or similar media as a medium of communication for the sharing of personal information about minors, whether general or sensitive.

The Privacy Commissioner has also stated that the dissemination of information about events at schools and partnerships, or other activities, e.g. fundraising initiatives and announcements thereon, does not constitute processing of personal data and there is therefore no point in using such media to disseminate that information.

The Privacy Commissioner has stated that in general, there will be no comment on the publication on Facebook of photos of school and social open events that do not show any situations of vulnerability or individual children as the focal point of video content.

The same is true for locked social media pages and is not limited to image impressions, but generally applies to personal information. The social networks Instagram, Snapchat, Youtube and Twitter fall into the same category of social networks as Facebook, so it is generally considered prohibited to post photos of individual children on these networks.

The Privacy Commissioner has not defined what can be classified as an open event, but has made it clear that there can be more than a reasonable margin for the publication of national and everyday films with a general diagonal without the consent of individuals, i.e. images of open events on the part of schools and societies that do not show any situation of vulnerability. 3

It is the role of school and recreational activities to assess what constitutes an open event in their own right, which may be considered to be a public space open event or where photos may be taken of a group of people, such as festivals, sporting events, public entertainment, presentations, or conferences. If parents object to photographing or posting images at school or recreational activities, the moderators should consider the comments and act if warranted.

Job site homepage, open or locked.

In the case of footage of personally identifiable children and that is not taken at an open event, footage may be taken and displayed, provided that the parents have consented to the photography and image display on the website by signing a consent form. The same is true even though a password is required to access the site.

Published promotional material

In the case of footage of personally identifiable children who are not photographed at an open event, footage may be taken and posted provided that the parents have consented to the photographing and footage in the published promotional material by signing a consent form.

Site wall footage It is considered that group/class footage may be posted on the walls of the Site. If children or parents object to video posting on the walls of the place of employment, the managers are obliged to consider the matter and make a decision.
At the same time, it may be necessary to display individual photos on the walls of the place of employment, as an example in the work area of a catering establishment, as an example for children with food allergies.

Bench Pictures and Individual Images

Many job sites organize snapshots of students to take individual and class photos. These shoots tend to be done by a professional photographer who is responsible for arranging and post-processing the shoot. The photographer is also responsible for placing the photos on a locked homepage or in a cloud solution that allows parents to view them before placing an order.

The entry of primary schools is where their administrators allow the photo shoot at the school premises, put the parents in touch with the photographer, and put the individual photos in the electronic information system of the place of work (Mentor, Learning Fuse, Vala Kindergarten, or Vala Recreation). The photographer is responsible for the execution, post-processing, and security of the shoot, and parents are encouraged to carefully review the contract with the photographer that they must sign before the shoot is scheduled.

The procedure is usually in such a way that parents access the picture area of the class in question and have the possibility to buy pictures of the class and their child. Parents are provided with a password and access is limited to individual and group photos of the student's class. The images are typically stored in low resolution and are not fit for printout or other use. The purchase of the photos is a business between the parents and the photographer. The registration and processing of personal data resulting from the photo shoot and purchase is the responsibility of the photographer, who is considered the person responsible for processing the personal data under the Personal Data Protection Act No. 90/2018.
Media Media access to a site for school and recreational purposes is subject to the permission of the administrator. The capture of media is therefore also subject to the permission of the controller. In the case of footage of personally identifiable children, and if the footage is taken in an area that is not considered a public space or an open event, only the parents may post the footage if they have signed a consent form.

Parents and Other Individuals Privacy has provided guidance that places of employment cannot generally be held responsible for content that individuals post online in their name. Place of employment, however, is responsible for the content that it itself and its staff post on the Internet.
At the same time, the Privacy Act has provided guidance that government agencies cannot prohibit individuals from taking photographs of their children, although it is a requirement that privacy laws do not apply to an individual's treatment of personal information that relates solely to his or her private interests or that is intended solely for personal use.

Regularly, as an example at the beginning of each school year, the placement managers should review the placement websites and remove from them any footage of children who have left the placement and which has been published based on parental consent.

It is recommended that parents be notified of planned actions well in advance.

Images of a child published on the basis of parental consent may not be used after they have left their place of employment.

You may have the right to access the personal data that the City of Reykjavik processes in connection with your child's enrollment in primary school. You may also have the right to object to the processing, to have the information corrected, to request deletion, to restrict the processing, and/or to have the information provided to you in a computer-readable format. You can find more information about these rights in the Reykjavik City Privacy Policy, which is available on the City's website.

Note that you can always contact the Reykjavik Data Protection Officer (persónuverndarfulltrui@reykjavik.is) or write to the the Icelandic Data Protection Authority (DPA) (www.personuvernd.is/information-in-english/).

Complaints regarding the processing of the Department of Education and Youth of individuals’ personal data can be submitted to the Reykjavik City Data Protection Officer personuverndarfulltrui@reykjavik.is. In that case, you may also contact Customer Service at 411 1111.

Every person has the right to lodge a complaint with the Privacy Office in the event of disputes regarding the processing of personal data in school and recreational activities. Information about the Child:

Staff, parents and children should be familiarized with these instructions.

This guideline repeals the 2015 school and recreational photography and video publishing standards and brochure on the use of web and social media in community centre work.

Approved by the School and Recreation Executive Board on January 29, 2020.