There are general guidelines that always apply when you are creating visual materials. In some cases, written consent will also be required. Be extra careful when you are photographing or filming minors, for example at an open day. If possible, you should request consent from a parent when you are taking a photo. In this case, you will need to tell the parent who you are, why you are taking the photo and for whom it is intended.
General Guidelines
- The campus is a public space: Radboud University’s campus is a public space. Taking photos and making films on campus and publication of the resulting images in news announcements is permitted. This is known as ‘freedom of access to information’. This applies to news on websites and social media and news in print.
- Obtaining verbal consent from students and lecturers: if you are photographing people at meetings or study-related activities, it is essential that you request verbal consent from those people who have been recognisably portrayed in the image. In this case, think of images of lectures, practicums and study areas.
- Portraying people appropriately: people should be portrayed correctly and appropriately. You will also need to pay attention to the context in which the image will be used. For example, you cannot simply post a picture of an overweight student in a news item about obesity as this could be hurtful to the student.
- Destroying images in the case of objection: people may object to the use of images in which they are recognisable. If possible, the images in the image archive and the publications in which they have appeared must then be destroyed immediately.
Written consent
Written consent will usually need to be obtained when you are taking photos or making films for commercial purposes or promotional materials. This applies to images on websites and social media and images in print. In this case, think of banners, Facebook posts and brochures. Written consent must be requested from the people who are being portrayed in the images if:
- The image has been staged;
- The image has not been staged, but a limited number of people have been recognisably portrayed;
- The image has not been staged, but minors have been portrayed.
Written consent for photographing minors may only be provided by parents.