Protect Minors' Identities in Youth Sports
Children and young people should be encouraged to celebrate their sporting achievements. Photographs and videos are an important way to remember these significant and special moments, so it’s understandable that many family and friends will want to share the successes of their children on social media.
As a sporting organization, it’s important to celebrate the club’s achievements in a way that also protects the identity of the children involved.
There are several reasons why certain parents or carers may not be comfortable with images of their children being shared online:
Families who are estranged from certain family members due to a history of domestic violence
Religious or cultural reasons
A previous history of abuse
General privacy concerns
Local, state or federal laws and compliance
Create a Privacy Policy for Photos and Videos
It’s crucial to have a comprehensive photo and video policy in place to safeguard children, their families, and your organization. This policy outlines how you will use images of minors on your website and on social media and what measures you will use to keep them safe, including guidelines for visiting friends and family taking photos at sporting events.
Hide or Erase ‘ID Tags’
Ensure that a child’s personal details (including their name and address) and other identifiable information (for example, street signs, names of clubs they are a member of), or ‘ID Tags’ are not published online, as this would make them identifiable by third parties.
Attain Consent
Ensure that you have parental consent to use any player’s photos or videos on your organizations’ website or social media. Advise parents and guardians that there can be negative consequences of sharing pictures or videos on social media and that any photos which feature other people’s children shouldn’t be shared without permission
Provide Notice to Players and Attendees
If you are taking wide-angle shots of an event that feature a crowd, it is not necessarily possible to get permission from every person in the audience. In these instances, it is best to warn parents and participants in advance that photography will be taking place. That way, anyone who does not want to be photographed can contact you in advance.
Provide Guidelines
As part of your policy, you should outline guidelines for any professional photographers, including areas that are off-limits for photography: changing rooms, toilets, etc. and not allowing unsupervised access.
Display Professional IDs
Photographers should also be provided with identification, which they must wear at all times. Appropriate storage of images is essential to ensure that they are not misused or fall into the wrong hands.
Use Private Storage
When storing images of youth sports that feature children, it is advisable to use an organization’s secure hard drive. Make sure images have restricted access and are kept in a locked cupboard or drawer.
Educate Employees and Hires
Organizational and company managers and staff should be properly acclimated with local, regional and national laws regarding the protection of individual identities relevant to photos and videos.
Understand the Laws
Those involved with saving and storing images should also review laws on an ongoing basis to ensure compliance in a rapidly changing environment of laws around personal information.
Ensure Continuous Compliance
Lastly, you will want to have a procedure in place for any complaints. Nominate a dedicated staff member as a safeguarding or welfare officer to whom complaints will be initially directed. By ensuring children’s safety and welfare, you can continue to provide training and events in a fun and safe atmosphere.
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