Photography guidance

If consent cannot reasonably be sought because the photographs are taken in a public place, for example at an outdoor festival, you must be able to answer ‘yes’ to the following questions in order to use them:

•           Would people attending the event expect photographs to be taken?

•           Would people in the photograph consider themselves to be in a   public place, with no expectation of privacy?

•           Do you think it unlikely that anyone would object to the photograph being taken?

If you invite a press photographer or TV crew to your event, or if you are planning to send images to the press yourself, you are responsible for making sure that participants know why images are being taken, where and how they will be published, and to obtain any required consent.

Try to include images of children from different ethnic communities in your communications whenever possible, and to use positive images of disabled children. This will ensure that your photographs are inclusive of the whole community and comply with the disability discrimination legislation. For more information about the Disability Discrimination Act, visit the DirectGov website.