photographs after a child leaves

[ziggy]

What do you do with photographs when a child leaves your setting? I display mine in playroom then make up a book to hand out at Christmas

Due to my decision to reduce my working days I have a child leaving immediately by mutual consent. Mother sent message asking me to "destroy" all pics to "keep things right". I have place them all in an envelope ready to hand over to parent and have deleted all still on camera

[hectors house]

What do you do with photographs when a child leaves your setting? I display mine in playroom then make up a book to hand out at Christmas

Due to my decision to reduce my working days I have a child leaving immediately by mutual consent. Mother sent message asking me to "destroy" all pics to "keep things right". I have place them all in an envelope ready to hand over to parent and have deleted all still on camera

It breaks my heart to delete their photos as they are big part of my life for the 4 or so years they are with me before they start school, for children who still come occasionally in the holidays I keep them on the computer as they like to look back at their baby photos - I give every child when they leave a CD with all their photos on. I am thinking I may get a year book of photos (as a printed photo book) done that I keep with parents permission.

[ziggy]

thanks, just wondering if it is worth the expense of taking any

[loocyloo]

Each December I make/have printed a photo album of the year. It shows activities and places visited plus all the children who were there that year. All parents are told that's what I do and that when they sign permission for me to take photos and share with others within my setting, they are also agreeing to my printing of this album. When it has arrived parents are welcome to look at it and if they wish to order a copy, I order one for them ( and they pay for it! )
One mum has already said she can't wait to see this year's!
The children all love looking through then and remembering. They even like looking at the books from before I moved here and seeing my own children little and the cat as a kitten!

[bunyip]

It's sad but, as I said on your other thread, I'd just do exactly as requested. Destroy the lot.

Do save one printed picture and put it with their file of all the stuff you have to save until they're 21 for insurance purposes. That is reasonable and justifiable under data protection (tell the parents you've done it.) You probably actually have the right to hold onto whatever photos you like (it's probably your intellectual property, though I'm not sure how the law stands on your side of the water) but I just don't think it's worth the aggro.

[Simona]

What do you do with photographs when a child leaves your setting? I display mine in playroom then make up a book to hand out at Christmas

Due to my decision to reduce my working days I have a child leaving immediately by mutual consent. Mother sent message asking me to "destroy" all pics to "keep things right". I have place them all in an envelope ready to hand over to parent and have deleted all still on camera

For as long as you are registered with ICO you are 'keeping things right'
It is an interesting issue and not sure what we are supposed to do with the pictures when we hand back our registration but...until then we can keep them I suppose.

I would return the photos to this particular parent...so no more worries for you....difficult to understand what she means but eh...whatever she wants goes

[sarah707]

Photos are part of the information we hold about a child.

When information about a child is no longer needed by Eyfs / Childcare Register / insurance it must be either given to parents or securely deleted / shredded.

The law doesn't get emotionally attached to photos - it is clear that they cannot be retained when a child leaves the provision.

I've had lots of discussions with ICO about it ...

[Simona]

We are supposed to keep certain documents for a while....until a child is 21 I believe?
we are talking specifically about photos....maybe the ICO should give clear instructions on what we do with them maybe...or have I missed that bit?

[mama2three]

A photograph is just 'information' in another form. The data protection act is very clear = principle 5 - Personal data processed for any purpose shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose.
Its clear we cant keep the photgraphs then unless of course we have permission from the parents. We need to delete them or pass them to the parents.
The ICO shouldn't need to clarify , they are there to ensure that the data we hold is used appropriately , ie , we follow the data protection act.

[Mindful Mama]

What if a parent has signed a permission saying they give you permission to keep photographs as part of your personal photo album?

[mama2three]

IMO then that's fine. I have photobooks made up with the children on the childrens bookshelves with photos of many previous mindees - the permission is the key.
That way it still adheres to the data protection act , ie , there is still a purpose and we can keep it as long as it fulfils that purpose.
The information we have to keep is covered by ico as there is a clear purpose - ie legislation , insurance etc....
Information which we have chosen to keep because of our emotional ties to the children isn't.

[Simona]

A photograph is just 'information' in another form. The data protection act is very clear = principle 5 - Personal data processed for any purpose shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose.
Its clear we cant keep the photgraphs then unless of course we have permission from the parents. We need to delete them or pass them to the parents.
The ICO shouldn't need to clarify , they are there to ensure that the data we hold is used appropriately , ie , we follow the data protection act.

Well... I am not clear on this and I do not think it would hurt if I made a phone call to clarify ...would it Mama2three?
I tend to find out things for myself when not 100% sure and this photo issue has not come up before...your 2nd reply proves that I think: permission is vital of course

Photo are indeed another form of information...in fact they are evidence...which needs to be used for the inspectorate and much more

We can indeed hand the photos back to parents...what about photos where the leaving child appears with other children still in the setting?
Documentation has also popped up in this discussion...I have Transfer summaries in my files of past children...to show an inspector in case she needs to see one...and the last inspector did...that is evidence
It appears the message here is we need to delete everything?...I do not agree...my view of course

ICO registration protects us for Info sharing, Confidentiality and Data Protection...am I right?
my question was...after a child leaves and we hand back the photos... any remaining information is still covered under the Data Protection registration that we hold....contracts are an example as we lock them away safely do we not?

I did mention the 'documentation' we need to keep for 21 years...has that changed? or have all cms suddenly burnt all the boxes they kept in the loft?
in my view that information is kept under the terms and conditions of the ICO registration...in other words safe and filed away

As the issue posed by the post is pertinent to me...I will make that call...for my own peace of mind

[ziggy]

this has brought up a problem for me, as mentioned what about when child is in group pic? I have sadly deleted so many pics of all 3 out in garden which i was going to put in their Christmas books. Now other 2 families have missed out

[Mouse]

I've recently gone through my computer files and deleted virtually all the photos I had of ex-mindees. I realised I had no need for them any more, so there was no point keeping them. I printed off a few and put them in each child's folder, but deleted the rest.

[natlou82]

I'm very pleased this has been brought up, it has made me want to revisit my photo policy and permissions particularly regarding group pictures. I have a child who attends that parents are only happy for child's photos to be in her personal development documents all other photos must be handed to them or deleted ASAP which I obviously adhere to but it does make me sad that when she leaves it will be like she was never here

[bunyip]

A couple of points.

1. I'm not sure if ICO is entirely relevant to Ziggy's problem, as she is in Ireland and I don't know how ICO or its Irish equivalent (or Irish data protection law) functions there.

2. By all means phone ICO if you like, but they might struggle to make a decision on this (especially if there is no legal precedent in case law to fall back on.) Agreed, the data protection laws for information held for business purposes is pretty clear. But what if we (being rather different to most other businesses) claimed the photos were being held as personal/sentimental rather than business data? This might particularly be the case if the child is just one within a group photo. It is also worth remembering than 1000's of businesses hold archive photos of people (newspapers, shoppers in-store, CCTV of virtually every building to which the public have access) without being required to delete them.

Add to that, there is nothing in law to stop me going out in the street, park, etc. and snapping a few pics of any child: including one I used to mind or a complete stranger. In fact, I'm not at all sure how keen ICO would be to tread on civil liberties in this way. Who knows?

[bunyip]

Extract from my (ever-expanding) photo consent form, for parents to sign:_

No payments will be made for the taking or use of these images by the childminder. The childminder retains all intellectual property rights over such images, but will use them in accordance with the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Information Commissioner’s Office.

In addition to the uses specified above, the childminder may make available prints or digital images of children to their parents or carers on request. The childminder reserves the right to make a discretionary charge for this service to cover his time and materials.

When attending other settings (e.g. toddler group, Children’s Centre, etc.) the childminder may be asked for consent for photographs of my child to be taken at that setting. I do/do not* wish the childminder to give such consent on my behalf. I understand that the childminder may however have no control over the taking or use of such images.
*delete as appropriate.

I understand that the childminder cannot lawfully prevent my child’s image being captured by members of the public.

I understand that it is within the nature of the setting and the types of activities that my child’s image may appear in images of other children and may therefore be reproduced in other children’s diaries, learning journals, etc. I hereby give consent thereto.

[Simona]

A couple of points.

1. I'm not sure if ICO is entirely relevant to Ziggy's problem, as she is in Ireland and I don't know how ICO or its Irish equivalent (or Irish data protection law) functions there.

2. By all means phone ICO if you like, but they might struggle to make a decision on this (especially if there is no legal precedent in case law to fall back on.) Agreed, the data protection laws for information held for business purposes is pretty clear. But what if we (being rather different to most other businesses) claimed the photos were being held as personal/sentimental rather than business data? This might particularly be the case if the child is just one within a group photo. It is also worth remembering than 1000's of businesses hold archive photos of people (newspapers, shoppers in-store, CCTV of virtually every building to which the public have access) without being required to delete them.

Add to that, there is nothing in law to stop me going out in the street, park, etc. and snapping a few pics of any child: including one I used to mind or a complete stranger. In fact, I'm not at all sure how keen ICO would be to tread on civil liberties in this way. Who knows?

I have contacted ICO already and fairly happy with their advice
If any cm has questions ...or is unsure...do give them a call as well.

[ziggy]

thanks for all advice, things are slightly different here but will make sure i look into this further. Could any GREEN MEMBERS please check out my other thread.

Not going to let this upset me but feeling bit low