GushMy school uploaded photos of me on instagram without my consent
steersman2484Depends on the country you live in and the legislation. Also it is possible that you or your parents signed something to give them consent.
DojanThis is true, but consent can be withdrawn.
Really? Can you back this up? So for istance if i signed something and i decide to withdrawn the consent, is it legit?
Laws and such depend on where you live, of course. Here in Sweden if your school publicly posts photos of you and you wish to have them taken down, they’re obliged to do so. That was the case during PUL, which the GDPR superceded a while ago. I’d assume something similar should apply for you even if you’re not in Europe. The school doesn’t own your image, and has no right to use it if you don’t want them to.
It can be withdrawn in other cases too. If you agree to a medical procedure but change your mind, you can withdraw consent. If you enter intimate relations with someone but wish for that to stop, you can withdraw your consent. If consent to someone borrowing your car, but find that they’re not doing so responsibly, you can withdraw consent.
It’s all fairly normal. Your easiest avenue to have the photos removed would be to just ask the school. “Hi, I saw you posted photos of me on Instagram and it makes me a bit uncomfortable. Would it be at all possible to have them removed, or crop me out, please?”
I’ve always hated having my photos taken, so when schools organised that kind of thing I was always adamantly against being in them. Apart from some “oh come on!” and “it’ll be a nice memory!” they’ve always respected it.
You may not need to do so legally, I believe you would have success speaking with someone at your school about it informally. If you are uncomfortable speaking with some of the people at your school, try to find someone you are comfortable with and raise the issue with them.
I live in italy
Then you can file a GDPR claim. That’s the last step on the escalation procedure, though. Start with nicely asking the school and if they don’t gomply: increase the (legal) pressure.
How does that work? I don’t want to ask directly to my school because they probably won’t care to comply with my demands. I don’t want to have any sort of direct contact with the school
OtterHonestly, there’s not really a good way to do this anonymously without escalating it. You’re within your right to request that it be removed, and you don’t need a solid justification to remove it. I assume it’s just a random promo photo on their instagram? I don’t think they’d care much outside of just removing it.
probably won’t care to comply with my demands
Schools care (or want to appear that they care) about the privacy, safety, and comfort of their students. I think they’d just remove it if asked. You could also try speaking to whoever is running the account and ask them, if say you don’t want to reach out to the admin.
There’s a quick draft:
Hi _______, I saw I was in a recent photo that was posted to the ____ account. I would like to kindly request that the photo be removed, as I value my online privacy and I am trying to have control over where my images are shared. Please let me know if there’s anything else I should do to complete this process, and thank you for your help!
I don’t know man, my school is kinda goofy lol. They can’t even manage to get us teachers
Best of luck and hope it works out for you!
I imagine they can’t get lawyers either.
They don’t want to know what happens if they refuse, most likely.
That’s the first step of escalation. If they don’t comply, you can threaten them with/kindly remind them of the italian data protection laws (you’d have to research those on your own). If they won’t comply then, you can issue a GDPR request. According to the GDPR, you can always demand your info being deleted. no matter, what you signed beforehand. If that fails: talk to the press and/or get a lawyer.
I don’t want to have any sort of direct contact with the school
Then how do you expect it to be taken down. The school posted it, I assume, on an insta account they control.
You first step is to contact them directly and ask for it to be removed.
If you are not willing to do that, which I can understand, I am not sure how you proceed.
If you live in Italy then you or your parents signed a release form that gave them the permission at the beginning of the year.
Otherwise they’re legally obligated to remove them
Source: I am Italian and I’m annoyed to sign that form every year
Nah they didn’t sign shit, my school is poorly organized
BlizzardThen ask the pricipal to show you your written constent and make this gesture: 🤌
Nah that won’t work alone, i also have to say: “wuagliò ma c cazz ste disc, naggh firmet nud!! 🤌🤌”
Tell your school you don’t want your picture to be online (on Instagram) and ask them to remove it.
If i do that i’ll probably be targeted by the school staff and the people in that photo as an idiot that is scared to show his faces on photos, and if i explain that it’s a matter of privacy then i’d probably look weirder
Well do you want privacy or not? Get over yourself. What do you care what they think? As a school they should have a list of who they can and can’t use in photos. It’s actually a fucking nightmare for any marketing staff but that’s part of their job. They need to respond to it. Unless you’re American… then your rights are imaginary. Suck it up and smile
Thank god i’m not an american
If you’re european it’s a clear breach of GDPR.
Photos of people are generally considered personal data
anon_waterBut unfortunately you’re an asshole.
Fuggin got em
As you say, internet man
American here - it could be different in other states, but as a parent every year at the beginning of the school year I had to sign a specific form during registration stating whether or not I would permit my child’s photo be taken/published. Yes, it’s going to be a nightmare to track, but the school shouldn’t want the headache of the fall out for not pulling a photo.
Control of one's image is pretty important these days, even to teenagers. And the school should not be posting identifiable pictures of its students without consent.
The thing is that these photos are from sort of a school event, and i’m in all of them. I don’t think they’d be willing to remove them because of me. The school’s interest by posting that was to attract more people that may be willing to join the school next year. I don’t think they will comply at all, and no, i didn’t sign anything and i’m 100% sure they don’t have my consent
Are your parents cool? If this happened to my kid and the school wouldn’t comply in removing them, I’d be raising a fucking storm. You could ask them for help, ask a lawyer, talk to the school, a teacher you trust or the principal, lie if you have to (my parents told me if this didn’t work, they would ask a lawyer for me, etc.) This is really uncool and I’d like to help.
My parents would probably not care, and not be willing to “”“waste”“” money on a lawyer for this. I can ask my uncle tho, he’s a lawyer
I would not go the route of getting a lawyer at this stage.
As others have pointed out, contacting your school is probably the best way. Also talk to your parents and your uncle.
They must comply, you can tell “buongiorno ho notato che sono presente in tutte le foto dell’evento, ma non ho mai firmato la liberatoria della privacy, è possibile oscurare il mio volto? Grazie”
So, unless your parents signed the form, they must comply, they will delete the pictures and upload new ones with your face censored. But yes, people will notice that the photos will be removed and your face censored, so you might be targeted as “that asshole that forced the school to delete the gallery”
Yeah huuh… that’s the problem. I’ll see what i can do about it. These fuckers bruh
You will become a scapegoat but on this one they did an organizational mistake
One year in a class there was a kid whose parents didn’t sign (99.999% don’t care about their kids privacy, so it’s like 1 every 3 years) so all the teachers were instructed to make sure to never have XXX on a photo. Then I had to review all the photos before upload.
Unfortunately there was a love for hosting the photos on Facebook. I pushed so hard to let them use any gallery except Facebook but they were all “too hard to use” for who has decisional power…
So since you mention Erasmus, I'm guessing you're in the EU.
For those unaware, Erasmus is an EU-wide foreign exchange program for students at university level ^see ^edit
If you didn't sign a waiver and request to be removed from their IG, they will comply. It's literally illegal for them not to. As you're legally an adult, permission from parents doesn't mean shit.
It's not even that big a deal for them. They can just use photos you aren't even in, or crop you out of ones where you're on the edge.
Don't be afraid to stand up for your basic rights. There might be others that feel pressured just like you do. I had to do something very similar during my time at uni. I can tell you now, everyone respects, and no one fucks with, someone who can and will hit back.
EDIT. Correction: Erasmus was once university-only. It has since been opened up to secondary schoolers.
Great, thanks for the answer. But i need to make some sort of official request in order to be taken seriously, do i have to quote some specific GDPR laws in the email? I don’t want to ask it nicely and then wait for a response that goes “What ? Oh no, we can’t do that, you were part of the project of the school and the photos can’t be removed because it’s very important for the school to bla bla bla bla…”
The exact law you'll want to quote depends on the exact country you reside in. GDPR itself is not a law, but an EU directive saying that all member nations have to put a law in their books with these specific conditions. So there'll be a law in your country that has these clauses but might not be called GDPR.
Well but i can always rely on GDPR, right? I don’t know about any specific laws here in italy
Shouldn't be too hard to Google. Also there might be other laws on your side
You can quote GDPR directly, I do it all the time and the French regulator (CNIL) does it too. The member state’s backing law is an implementation detail.
I recommend asking informally first. If that does not work, you can remind them of their obligations under GDPR. You can mention article 6 of GDPR, which specifies a list of valid basis for the processing of personal data (typically getting direct consent). You will have to check you did not previously give consent to this processing, however. In any case, if you did, you are allowed to retract it at no conditions.
My experience of fighting companies on GDPR grounds is that they often come up with bullshit about “legitimate interest” (article 6 point f) to pretend they are using a legitimate basis. I don’t expect it would be necessary but if you want to have a stronger legal claim, you can instead claim that their processing is unlawful under article 9, as a photograph is personal data revealing ethnic/racial origin. One caveat: if you gave them consent for this, this does not apply.
In any case, even if you have given previous consent, you can request that your personal data is erased under article 17 point 1b. Because they made it public, they will have to also remove it from public places to the extent of what is possible (article 17 point 2). This would typically mean that they have to remove it from Instagram also.
That’s very useful. Thank you for the explanation and your time spent making this comment. If they come up with some shit, i’ll definetly tell them the articles you stated
I’m not sure that’s the case. Just take some time to write a simple email:
*Hi
It seems you’ve uploaded some photos of me on Instagram. I’d prefer to have them removed.
Best OP *
Doesn’t have to be dramatic.
ddhJust personally I’d request they be removed rather than state a preference.
Fixed and agree. This was just an example of simplicity. 🙂
buzzThis is a very cmon problem.
You just have to write a letter to whomever is in charge. “hey you uploaded a picture of me online, I prefer this to be removed” thank you.
Dont over think it.
Grow up. You’ve got a complaint, go make it. Being a little bitch doesn’t help anyone.
A little what lol
+10 renegade
Ease up, they’re still in school and just want the pictures removed without unduly annoying a big authority in their life.
And without kicking myself in the nuts during the process. I don’t want to become anyone’s target, they are all assholes here
My local public school district takes student privacy seriously. They make an effort to track which students they have consent to feature in any media in order to avoid this and, as a district policy, ask for consent every school year to make sure consent doesn’t change.
Assuming you are a minor in the US.I would be very surprised if you or your guardians ask for your photos to be removed and the school didn’t cooperate.
In your mind you have already been targetted by having your image somewhere you don’t want it.
Start by DMing the schools account and request that the following images be removed because they contain your likeness. Link the photos.
The school doesn’t need to make a big stink or even ask you why you don’t want to be seen online, it’s literally none of their business.
Whether they choose to respect your privacy is another story.
Should they fail to remove the photos, move on:
Contact the school administration office and ask that you would like to make a complaint about images posted on the Schools Instagram Account. When they ask why, explain that you would like x number of images removed because they contain your likeness. If they ask why further, explain that you do not want images of yourself online that you yourself do not control. End of story.
They can agree, or not, but I’m sure this would be better than going legal on them.
Previous marketer here. They likely chose photos that work well but have zero sentimental rational, they’re just doing a job. If you send a respectful email, they may be annoyed at the request but will probably be apologetic. Just be clear that for your own personal reasons you stay off social media sites and you would prefer to be removed. Don’t sweat too much, you’ll be fine.
Thanks
I used to teach high school and have an advanced administrative degree. I highly doubt any school staff would think less of you for this, unless they’re exceptionally shitty people. I hosted some activities where pictures were taken, and if a student had returned later and requested one or more of them be taken down, I would have complied with no questions asked, even if consent had previously been granted by the student/their guardians.
While it’s true that there are some awful teachers and administrators, the vast majority wouldn’t have a problem granting a simple request like this.
I hope so, i really do
People downvoting you clearly don’t know that school administration can be into bullying as much as the kids. Talking by experience. I think you can report the images in Instagram by saying you’re in them and don’t want to be.
Already did that and i’m waiting… i gave them my email but i received nothing in my inbox yet
I hope so too. Since it’s the weekend, I’d try emailing whoever is in charge right now for your own peace of mind. I’m almost 100% sure they’ll take them down, no questions asked.