Photo / video consent protocol
Who needs to consent and how?
Written consent is required from the parent, guardian or carer of anyone aged under 18 or anyone who is not able to consent on their own behalf, using the form in this protocol.
Everyone else must provide verbal consent when the photo / video is taken.
For crowd shots at large events organisers should consider putting signs up explaining that photos / videos are being taken for promotional purposes however we should avoid using pictures that focus on individuals unless they have consented as above.
Who needs to get the consent and how?
For written consent, the person organising the event being photographed / videoed should check if any consents will be needed and obtain it before or during the event.
We will endeavour to email a copy of any photograph involving children back to the organisation involved to ensure correct photographic consent is in place.
Schools may have their own consent procedures in place so the event organiser should check with them first. They should liaise with them about communicating with parents about using the form in this procedure if not and agree a system to make it clear which children cannot be used in photos / video. The school may have their own system but this could be something like wearing different coloured stickers.
For verbal consent, this can be taken by the photographer on the day.
What to do with consent forms?
Organisers should keep copies of the completed consent forms or, if being used for promotional purposes, send them to the Communications Team at the media@northyorks.gov.uk address.
The photographer should confirm that verbal consent was given when sending over the photos / videos.
For long-term or large-scale campaigns, or those requiring a large number of consents at once, organisers can send the consent form directly to participants beforehand to return to the media inbox using the email address above or return hard copy forms to the Document Management Centre at County Hall, Northallerton. They will scan and send over batches of consent forms to the media inbox for checking as they are received.
Managing images
Photos should only be used for their commissioned purpose and any featuring identifiable people should be deleted 3 years after the date they were taken.
Regardless of how consent was given, people are free to withdraw their consent at any time. They will need to provide information about when, where and why the photograph or video was taken and a description so it can be found and removed.
Useful downloads
Permission from a parent or carer to allow a child to be photographed - Consent Form
