Photography policy

Why we have this policy

Photographs are how the Association remembers itself. Decades of exchange visits, dinners, charter anniversaries and coach trips exist mostly as pictures, and putting them online is one of the main reasons this website exists.

But a photograph of a person is their personal information, and some of the people in our photographs are children. This policy sets out how we take, publish and look after images, so that everyone involved knows where they stand before a camera comes out.

Our position, in short

• We take photographs at Association events and publish a selection of them on this website and on our Facebook group.
• We tell people beforehand, and anyone who would rather not be photographed only has to say so.
• We never publish a photograph of a child without the written consent of a parent or guardian.
• We never name a child alongside their photograph.
• Anyone can ask us to remove a photograph, and we will, without asking why.
• We never sell our photographs or pass them to anyone else for their own use.

At events

Whoever is organising an event will make it clear, in the event listing and again on the day, that photographs may be taken for the Association's website and Facebook group.

If you would prefer not to appear, tell the organiser or the person holding the camera. You do not need to give a reason and it will not be raised again. We will not photograph you, and if you appear in the background of a group shot we will not publish that photograph.

We will not photograph anyone who appears uncomfortable, and we will not photograph in changing areas, bedrooms in host family homes, or anywhere someone would reasonably expect privacy.

Children and young people

Exchange visits often involve children, including children staying with host families. We take a more careful approach with them.

• Written consent is required before we publish. A parent or guardian must give consent in writing — on the exchange visit booking form, or by email. A verbal "that's fine" on the day is not enough for publication, though it is enough for us to take the photograph for the Association's own records.
• Consent is specific. The form will say where the photograph may appear — the website, the Facebook group, or a printed newsletter — and consent given for one does not extend to the others.
• We never publish a child's name, school, or address alongside their image, and we do not tag children on Facebook.
• A young person's own wishes count. If a child does not want to be photographed, that is the end of it, whatever their parent has said.
• Consent can be withdrawn at any time by a parent, guardian, or the young person themselves once they are old enough to ask.
• Where children from Noyelles-lès-Seclin are involved, we will ask our partner association to obtain the same consent from their families before we publish.

Photographs taken by members

Members often take the best pictures, and we are glad to receive them. If you send us photographs for the website or the Facebook group, you are confirming that you took them, that you are happy for the Association to publish them, and that you are not aware of anyone in them objecting.

We will still apply this policy to them — including checking for children before anything is published.

How we publish them

• Photographs are published in galleries on this website and shared to our Facebook group.
• Location data is removed. Photographs taken on phones often record exactly where they were taken. That information is stripped from every image before it is published, so a picture taken at someone's home does not reveal the address.
• Each photograph is given a written description, both so the gallery makes sense and so the website works for people using a screen reader.
• We do not sell photographs, license them, or provide them to third parties for their own purposes. We may use them in the Association's own printed material, such as a newsletter or a display at a village event.

Asking us to remove a photograph

If you appear in a photograph on this website or our Facebook group and you would rather you didn't, email:

richardstanden@gmail.com

Tell us roughly which gallery or event it was — you do not need to identify the exact image, and you do not need to give a reason.

We will remove it within five working days and confirm when we have. If the photograph has been shared to Facebook we will remove it there too.

A photograph removed from the website is deleted, not hidden. It may remain in the Association's private archive unless you ask us to delete it entirely, in which case we will.

Our archive

The Association keeps its own archive of photographs, including images never published, because it is the record of a partnership that has lasted decades. This archive is not public. Photographs are kept in it indefinitely unless someone asks us to delete an image of themselves or their child, which we will do on request.

Who is responsible

The Chair is responsible for this policy and for deciding, in any case of doubt, whether a photograph should be published. Any committee member may take a photograph down without waiting for a decision if they think it should come down.

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This policy sits alongside our Privacy Notice, which explains how we handle the rest of your personal information.