{"id":73585,"date":"2024-07-24T00:13:25","date_gmt":"2024-07-24T04:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=73585"},"modified":"2024-07-24T00:13:25","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T04:13:25","slug":"is-your-childs-photo-on-their-school-facebook-page-what-does-this-mean-for-their-privacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/is-your-childs-photo-on-their-school-facebook-page-what-does-this-mean-for-their-privacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Is your child\u2019s photo on their school Facebook page? What does this mean for their privacy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

If you search most primary or high school websites, you will likely find a images of happy, smiling children.<\/p>\n

Students images are also used publicly for school newsletters, social media accounts and other school publications like annual reports.<\/p>\n

Parents could reasonably expect schools and educations departments have conducted thorough checks and evaluations to do this. To some degree this is true, but a\u00a0recent AI scare<\/a>\u00a0where children\u2019s images were used in a massive training data set included some photos from\u00a0school websites<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Research\u00a0also shows<\/a>\u00a0schools can do more to promote children\u2019s rights to privacy.<\/p>\n

Parents and governments are already concerned about\u00a0children\u2019s safety online<\/a>. As part of this, we need to look more closely at how students\u2019 information and images are being used by their schools.<\/p>\n

Why is online information an issue?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Publication of children\u2019s images and personal information on social media platforms generates a trail of information or\u00a0profile<\/a>\u00a0of that child. This information is permanent and may have implications for children now and in the future, including on their\u00a0self-esteem<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This data also contributes to a \u201cdigital shadow<\/a>\u201d. This is the digital data associated with individuals we cannot see. It can can be sold and used to profile and target individuals for advertising or dictate what information and content we see online through recommender systems.<\/p>\n

What are schools required to do?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In Australia, the publication of a child\u2019s personal data, which includes images and video, is protected by the\u00a0Australian Privacy Principles<\/a>. This is underpinned by the\u00a0Privacy Act<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0state and territory privacy laws<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This means all schools need to have the consent of the child and\/or their parent\/caregiver to publish images, videos and personal information on learning platforms, school websites, advertising and social media accounts and in school newsletters and news media.<\/p>\n

This is why parents are asked to sign a \u201cconsent to publish\u201d form, usually at the start of each school year.<\/p>\n

Privacy laws outline how consent needs to be voluntary, current and provide sufficient and specific information about the different uses of personal data.<\/p>\n

But publicly available policies show schools differ in the way they inform parents about the uses of children\u2019s data. This is because Australia has a state-based education system with a variety of school types that are all governed differently.<\/p>\n

While current policies may align with federal and state laws, they do not necessarily promote children\u2019s right to privacy or consider their best interests considered. There are three issues that need more attention.<\/p>\n

1. More specific consent<\/strong><\/h4>\n

At the moment we don\u2019t have enough detail about the\u00a0different ways children\u2019s data is handled<\/a>\u00a0across different platforms.<\/p>\n

For example, publishing a photo of a child will have different privacy risks, if it\u2019s published on a school\u2019s Facebook page, on a\u00a0class learning platform<\/a>\u00a0or in a hard-copy school newsletter.<\/p>\n

Parents should be able to refuse consent in one context but provide it for another.<\/p>\n

2. What happens if you say no?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

We also don\u2019t have a clear understanding about how schools deal with children of families\u00a0who do not consent<\/a><\/p>\n

We know there is some increased work for teachers to identify children who do not consent and without clearly communicated procedures there is uncertainty about how to engage with and manage online publication processes. For example, how does a teacher treat a non-consenting child when taking a whole class photo?<\/p>\n

There are also reports\u00a0children can be excluded<\/a>\u00a0from some school experiences, such as large music and dance performances.<\/p>\n

3. Do students have a say?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The eSafety Commissioner\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0adults should seek consent from children of all ages when taking their photo or video and explain the purpose.<\/p>\n

This is something we also teach children as part of consent education as they get older.<\/p>\n

But many\u00a0current policies<\/a>\u00a0do not require children to give their consent. Nor do they require schools to talk to students about what consent means if an image is used online. This is because it is assumed many students are too young to understand.<\/p>\n

This suggests current approaches around gaining consent are more about legal compliance, rather than truly promoting children\u2019s rights to privacy.<\/p>\n

What should schools do differently?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This is not a question for individual schools to solve on their own. This issue needs to be tackled by governments, education departments and independent school associations (who represent private schools). Education departments and associations can review existing policies to:<\/p>\n