Photography Policy

The purpose and scope of this policy statement

Basking Babies works with children and families as part of its activities. These include: pregnancy relaxation, baby massage & reflexology and baby yoga.

The purpose of this policy statement is to:

protect children and young people who take part in Basking Babies’ services, events and activities, specifically those where photographs and videos may be taken
set out the overarching principles that guide our approach to photographs/videos being taken of children and young people during our events and activities
to ensure that we operate in line with our values and within the law when creating, using and sharing images of children and young people.

This policy statement applies to all staff, volunteers, instructors, franchisees and other adults associated with Basking Babies.

Legal framework

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in the United Kingdom. Summaries of key legislation and guidance is available on NSPCC Learning https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/

We believe that:

children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind
we have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people and to take, share and use images of children safely.

We recognise that:

sharing photographs and films of our activities can help us celebrate the successes and achievements of our children and young people, provide a record of our activities and raise awareness of our organisation
the welfare of the children and young people taking part in our activities is paramount
children, their parents and carers have a right to decide whether their images are taken and how these may be used, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation
consent to take images of children is only meaningful when children, their parents and carers understand how the images will be used and stored, and are fully aware of the potential risks associated with the use and distribution of these images
there are potential risks associated with sharing images of children online.

We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

always asking for written consent from parents or carers before taking and using a child’s image. At the time of booking a course, your consent to photography/filming is requested.
always explaining what images will be used for, how they will be stored and what potential risks are associated with sharing images of children.
Images taken (with parents’ permission) during class will be shared with parents, usually via WhatsApp. They will only be shared on social media if permission has been given in writing by the parent. If permission has been given for images to be used for promotional purposes on the website, marketing materials, social media etc then the images will be stored on our Basking Babies intranet for this purpose. Otherwise, images will be deleted.
In terms of the risks associated with sharing images of children, unfortunately any image of a child bears the risk of being copied and misused illegally.
making it clear that if a child or their family withdraw consent for an image to be shared, it may not be possible to delete images that have already been shared or published.
If a parent withdraws their consent for an image/their images to be shared, they must let their instructor know this in writing. The instructor will then update the class register accordingly to ensure that no pictures are shared going forwards. Of course, in a situation where consent is withdrawn, whilst Basking Babies can delete any images stored, it would not be possible to delete images that have already been shared or published.
changing the names of children whose images are being used in our published material whenever possible (and only using first names if we do need to identify them).
If we have used an image on social media or published material we only identify children using their first names. E.g. Rosie with Basking Baby Emma.
never publish any personal information about an individual child and where applicable we would disguise any identifying information (e.g. the name of their pre-school or a pre-school uniform with a logo).
making sure children, their parents and carers understand how images of children will be securely stored and for how long (including how we will control access to the images and their associated information).
Images of children that Basking Babies have been granted the permission to use will be stored indefinitely on our secure Basking Babies intranet. Our intranet can only be accessed internally by Basking Babies team members who have passwords to enter the

We try to reduce the risk of images being copied and used inappropriately by:

Using images of children in appropriate clothing
Avoiding full face and body shots of children taking part in activities such as baby massage where there may be a heightened risk of images being misused.
Using images that positively reflect young people’s involvement in the activity.
We also have a procedure for reporting the abuse or misuse of images of children as part of our child protection procedures – refer to our Safeguarding Policy. We make every effort to ensure everyone involved in our organisation knows the procedures to follow to keep children safe.

Photography and/or filming for personal use

We love you taking pictures or videos of your children during the course but please always be sensi- tive of taking pictures of others without their permission. If you are asked to stop, please do respect the rights of others.

We therefore ask you to

Remember that parents, carers and children need to give consent to their pictures to be taken and to be used.
If you have taken a picture that includes a child other than your own you need permission from parents and carers before sharing photographs and videos that include them
check your privacy settings on their social media accounts to understand who else will be able to view any images they share.

If you have any concerns at all about your images being shared, please contact your instructor in the first instance.

Please remember that much of the content of the class is under copyright and while we are very happy for you to practice at home, these are not to be incorporated into another public activity without our permission.

Photography and/or filming for Basking Babies’ use

We recognise that our instructors may use photography and filming as standard within the baby massage & baby reflexology courses. We often find that parents love to have pictures and films of themselves with their little ones, either posed or in action during the class. We want parents and carers are aware that photography and filming is part of what is offered within the standard programme, but unless there is written consent it will not be shared.

If we hire a photographer for one of our events, we will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

providing the photographer with a clear brief about appropriate content and behaviour
ensuring the photographer wears identification at all times
informing children, their parents and carers that a photographer will be at the event and ensuring they give written consent to images which feature their child being taken and shared
not allowing the photographer to have unsupervised access to children
not allowing the photographer to carry out sessions outside the event or at a child’s home
reporting concerns regarding inappropriate or intrusive photography following our child protection procedures.

Photography and/or filming for wider use

If people such as local journalists, professional photographers (not hired by Basking Babies) or students wish to record one of our events and share the images professionally or in the wider world, they should seek permission in advance.

They should provide:

the name and address of the person using the camera
the names of children they wish to take images of (if possible)
the reason for taking the images and/or what the images will be used for
a signed declaration that the information provided is valid and that the images will only be used for the reasons given.

Basking Babies will verify these details and decide whether to grant permission for photographs/films to be taken. We will seek consent from the adults associated with the children who are the intended subjects of the images and their parents and inform the photographer of anyone who does not give consent. At the event we will inform children, parents and carers that an external photographer is present and ensure the photographer is easily identifiable. If Basking Babies is concerned that someone unknown to us is using their sessions for photography or filming purposes, we will ask them to leave and (depending on the nature of the concerns) follow our child protection procedures.

If consent to take photographs is not given If children, parents and/or carers do not consent to photographs being taken, we will respect their wishes. We will agree in advance how they would like to be identified so the photographer knows not to take pictures of them, and ensure this is done in a way that does not single out the child or make them feel isolated.

We will never exclude a child from an activity because we do not have consent to take their photograph.

Storing images

We will store photographs and videos of children securely, in accordance with our safeguarding policy and data protection law. Provided permission has been granted for Basking Babies to use the images, we will keep digital copies of images on our Basking Babies intranet, which is restricted access to Basking Babies team members via password. These digital copies will be kept indefinitely for social media and marketing purposes.

It is not usual practice for hard copies of images to be in our possession. Should this ever be the case, we would keep them in a locked drawer.

We will always aim to delete any images of children from unencrypted portable equipment such as laptops, memory sticks and mobile phones within 14 days.

Basking Babies instructors will use their personal phones in class to take photos and recordings of children (if consent has been given). These photos will be deleted from their personal device within 14 days and uploaded to the safety of our Basking Babies intranet.

Related policies and procedures

This policy statement should be read alongside our organisational policies and procedures, including: