My school uploaded photos of me on instagram without my consent
My school uploaded photos of me on instagram without my consent
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”
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.
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.
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.
This 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.
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.
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.
If they don’t agree to take it down tell them you don’t consent to it or something and you’ll get more involved in taking it down. Letting them know because of privacy will make it become more normalized. If more of your friends who were posted without their consent spoke up about it, this could be a serious issue and maybe they’ll even use pixelfed one day. It’s a long shot but little things like this will bring awareness to people.
For example, over the past few years I’ve been just living my life on a linux computer, grapheneos phone, using foss and encrypted messengers. My friends and family questioned it and I explained to them and a couple them now wanted to get started on this privacy journey. They’ll probably get their family and friends to take notice and explain it to them too, then, it’s a whole movement now.
Android is probably my biggest privacy hole right now. I’ve considered alternatives but none of them particularly appeal to me. I moved away from Gmail, Google Voice, Chrome/chromium, deleted Facebook, etc… But android has some deep tendrils.
What’s your take on Graphene?
Graphene is as good as it can get when it comes to privacy and security. You get lots of control over what apps can have permission to do like accelerometer sensors in addition to all the other controls regular phones get. It’s more stable than the last time I used calyxos. If I show my phone to people they see it as a regular Android phone and wouldn’t think twice about it. You can download apps through aurora store or google play store if you wish and there’s some kind of segmentation done if you choose to download from the latter.
Their website is good if you wish more information. grapheneos.org