Implications of Schools sharing photos & images on Social Media handles

Safety, Contract and Legal issues pertaining to sharing images and videos of school kids by the school authorities on the official social media handles:

Schools regularly display the images of students in public spaces like hoardings to celebrate/promote Top Scorers/Rankers and across social media handles to celebrate/promote events and activities at schools.

The update brings us to consider the phenomena of Schools in India posting the images of the kids on social media.

This usage of photos brings the following legal and safety concerns:

1. Did the schools obtain Voluntary Informed Specific Current consent of the parents/guardians of the school children by specifying how, why and for what purpose the images of children will be used when being shared on social media?
2. Will the school agree to pay compensation if the images/videos of the children from social media handles end up being turned into memes?
3. Will the school agree to pay compensation and to pursue the legal course if the images/videos of the children from social media handles end up in the wrong hands or become part of data bases obtained for criminal purposes?
4. Do the schools agree to give a part of the revenue generated from social media handles the leads in which the posts of children were shared? Because not paying the children may amount to an unfair contract since the children's role is precisely similar to that of models and brand ambassadors.

Posting kids photos on social media has become a subject of many developments including subject to unpleasant, inappropriate reshares and comments, cyber bullying, morphing and even in some cases the images of children being used as memes and gifs, leading to the loss of their privacy. In rarer cases, social media updates from schools' official handles are turning into an openly available data base of the school children, their proximal locations to a wider unvetted audience, whose intentions are in some cases shockingly disturbing.

Australian Federal Police has recommended making children a part of decision making in sharing their back to school potographs in addition to the caution to parents to be vigilant about sharing the children's images on social media.

Other tips from the AFP include:

Keep personal information including full name and age private

• Avoid posting photos in school uniforms all together
• Only share images of your children with known and trusted people
• Consider a closed group with approved members instead of posting on a public page
• Make sure you have strong privacy settings on social media accounts

- ABC

E-safety Commissioner of Australia bulletin on child privacy shares the following caution:

Think before you?share?

• Avoid sharing photos and videos that contain personal details, such as full names, personal contact information, or uniforms that identify particular schools or locations.?
• Avoid adding comments to photos that identify locations, for example street addresses, the name of your child’s school, or even identifying features in front of your home.??
• Ensure schedules of children’s activities are not shared online.?
• Only share with people you really know and trust. Rather than posting to all of your friends on social media, you can be selective and use the privacy settings on your social media platform. Also, be aware that if one of your friends likes your picture, it may also become visible to their friends.??
• Always check with other parents before posting, sharing or tagging images that include their children.?
• Remember that the information and photos you share contribute to your child’s digital reputation.?

Also Read:

E-Safety Commissioner on Consent for sharing Photographs and Videos: