Parental consent not given and schoolcpisted my child's photo on social media

[Survivormummy]

Hi,
My son had achieved an award along with other children in his school. The school have posted a photograph on social media. I have not given my consent. I have court orders in place to protect my child and I from the father and his family and I have sole custody of my child. The school have been made aware of this and have access to the court documents with the permission of the court of course.
Unfortunately this is not the first time my son's picture has been posted in social media by the school. This will make it the third time. I would not have minded if the school blurred my son's face etc. The father or his family are not allowed to know the identity of the school or where we are living due to fleeing from DA and there is not contact ordered by court. What shall I do? Is this a safeguarding concern?
Over 200 people have viewed the image so far and I am fearful the father or his family have not seen it. I have only been made aware of it myself as I don't have social media otherwise I could have acted faster.
You just never know. He has relatives and friends who are familiar of the area and school. What shall I do?

Actually I think the crux is they have a lax social media/photography policy or total lack of real knowledge and care in implementing it. I would complain to the Governors and LA.
As a minimum I would expect a whole staff training session, and a named person given responsibility for monitoring all images before posted anywhere.

I would also report it to Social Services as a safeguarding concern. Maybe the school will listen to them. (I would also complain to OFSTED).

Maybe CC in the Acting Head, the Safeguarding Lead, the Head of Governors and the Safeguarding Governor to all complaints.

This is utterly unacceptable - lots (most) of schools etc. have children whose identities must not be publicised.

That shouldn't be necessary (though I agree in this situation it might end up being the least bad solution.)
One of my adopted DC was very into drama. It would have been unfair to stop her having a good role in a production because other parents couldn't be trusted not to plaster photos on social media. (Our primary officially only allowed photos after the end).

I would actually raise a complaint with the governors of the school more formally now. This is 4 breaches of basic safeguarding after repeated notifications by you of the issue.

if they cannot rein this in after a formal complaint I would go to the local authority.

the data protection stuff does matter, but the safeguarding is much more important. I would let the school know you plan to do this if you have a good relationship, might light a fire under them.

Im a governor and if I found out school was doing this I would be furious.

This is absolutely ridiculous and you have every right to be angry.

If your child had a fatal food allergy you wouldn't expect them to accidentally overlook it on multiple occasions.

I'm surprised they share these type of images on social media regardless of your situation.

This is one for immediate action (remove photo)
Follow complaints procedure very carefully.

Think carefull what remedies you want when complaints
-investigation as to how it keeps happeninb
-better procedures so it doesn't happen again
-an apology for putting you at risk

• whole staff domestic violence training
• the danger of sharing photos online added to inset day training

Really good advice on this thread OP. Like others Im also a chair of governors, and would absolutely want to know about this. Don’t be nervous of making contact.

If you want to kick up a real fuss you could also ask to see their internal policies which relate to staff publishing images on social media, and do a subject access request to see if your concerns and wishes were communicated to the teachers.

How to request personal dataHiw

If your school part of a Trust you could consider complaining to the CEO or safeguarding lead.

Personally If my child was settled and happy, moving schools would be a last resort but I appreciate you may be fearful for their safety now, which will play a part in your decision.

I’m so sorry this has happened.

Reporting to the ico and telling the school you've done it will make school realise how much they've messed up even if the ico don't take action directly. It also woke negotiate how to repair the breach

This! The ICO can impose huge fines. They probably won't, but this possibility might actually make the school wake up and take notice. They should have done this after the first breach. For this to happen 4 times is unthinkable. They need a rocket!

That is disgraceful and totally unacceptable. I would complain to ICO and the school via the chair of governors as this is a serious safeguarding issue.

Could also consider speaking to the LADO (local authority designated officer) for your area. Their role is to investigate where people working with children may have harmed or put children at risk of harm, which you could argue the schools actions have done.

Honestly don't know why everyone is so obsessed with reporting to the ICO. The school will have had other data breaches, that they will have reported, they won't even get censured, let alone fined.

The ICO is really not the sanctioning body people seem to think it is. It's mostly advisory. The threat of fines rarely translates to any action.

Schools are not scared of the ICO and suggesting that reporting will alarm them is nonsense.

The LADO and ICO are good routes to ensure the school changes it's policies.
I would suggest they no longer put any images of children on social media.
The governors will want to know. If you don't get an adequate response please also inform ofsted

Make a complaint and ask how they will ensure there are no more incidents. Look at their policies and learn how they communicate to appropriate staff that the child should be removed if photos are taken or blocked out.
You don't say how old the child is and if he can remind staff.

The person posting information should also be checking.
The Governors should also be checking at least yearly that processes are in place and are followed by staff.

I'd be complaining and reporting and looking at other Schools. This one can't or won't keep your child safe.

Thanks once again for the useful advice and from a range of perspectives. I really appreciate it.

I have a meeting arranged for next week to discuss the concern/complaint I raised via the 2 emails to the school.
Would this be considered as stage 1 of the complaints policy or just a general chat regarding a concern according to the headteacher?

Also, I spoke to ICO via live chat and they didn't seem to be helpful as they indicated that the school would have to report to us if the school believes there has been a data breach.

Additionally, can the date of a policy review be changed to state that a review took place when it didn't?

does a policy review need to officially take place with the governors and headteacher?

Can a date be changed by the school secretary without permission given by the headteacher, governors if the review date has expired?

I ask these questions raised above beacuse I have evidence to suggest that it was changed on the spot by the secretary in my presence when I asked for a printed copy of the complaints procedure policy.

I asked for a policy and the review date expired when I viewed it on the school website a day before and I also saved a copy of this.
Is it then justifiable for the school secretary to change the review date by adding an extra year on top to incidate that a review took place?

If a review date expires during the time the headteacher is on leave from school then who is responsible to renew the policy?

Also whose signature needs to be present on the front page of the policy? Surely it cannot be the head teacher as she is formally absent from school on maternity leave and there is an acting head in their position.

The policy I received from the secretary was signed by the headteacher who is on leave.

It's unfortunate that another problem has occurred. Please understand that I do not go to look for problems. But surely this is a serious concern? Is it worth mentioning in my meeting with the headteacher or will it be brushed under the carpet?

Shall I just focus on the safeguarding concern about my child?

Additionally where can I get the email addresses for the chair of governors, clerk, safeguarding governor?
If I ask the school secretary then will I even receive it?

Thank you in advance.

I wouldn't focus too much on the fake review date on the policy. Yet.

Keep your powder dry & save it for governors.

The issue is they haven't followed the policy and/ or the policy is inadequate and needs to be reviewed.

A face to face would be stage 1. Make sure you take notes and they send you minutes of the meeting and you read them carefully and feed back any discrepancies.

@Survivormummy , don't worry about the date too much, the copy on the website may not be the latest approved version. The name of the chair of governors and clerk's email address will be on the governors page of the school website.

I wouldt worry about the policy. It's a side issue. Just follow the procedure you have been given.

Yes, the ico will have zero interest in this, but you can ask the school if they reported themselves and if they think they should.

I would personally be focusing on the safeguarding aspects and asking what the LADO said over data protection issues.

Thanks for the reassurance, much appreciated.
Wanted to give feedback from the meeting with the acting headteacher who is also the safeguarding lead.
Sorry in advance as its a long message

I'm afraid I do not have good news as it's not been resolved and I have serious concerns.

Throughout the whole meeting the acting head was minimising everything. There was no accountability whatsoever. She put it down to human error. She kept repeating human error.

The acting head said that she spoke with 'global policing' (a day before our meeting!) and they informed her that it wasn't a data breach as the child's name was not exposed on social media. Then she repeated it was human error. She also said that she classed the last two incidents as one as they happened closer together even though they were two seperate one. I also asked her about the other two incidents as there are 4 in total. The acting head she said she didn't mention them as she wasn't here at the school. So basically her way of saying because there is no evidence I don't believe you. (But I do have evidence as i took screenshots of when I discovered the photos and I told the acting head I will be providing and I also reported it to two members of staff verbally when the incidents occured). All that the acting head could have done was speak to members of staff to get to the bottom of it during her so called investigation.

The Acting Headteacher said that the 4 incidents were not data breach. It was human error. But how can it be deemed as human error on 4 seperate occassions by 4 seperate members of staff within the space of only a year and a half at school? One of the 'so called' human error happened when the safeguarding lead (at the time) took a group photo of my child and posted it on social media without parental consent or his identity concealed with an emoji or blurring his face atleast. She knew about my situation and had read the two court documents aswell.

I asked the acting head if I could have a copy of the email from global policing so that there was transparency. She informed me that she spoke to them over the phone and when I asked the name of the person she spoke to, as I may want to call them myself she said she couldn't remember. She clearly didn't want to give me the name. So I have no record of what was said.

I was utterly appaled by the response given from the acting head and told her that I felt let down by the school and that my family and I don't feel safe as we have been exposed via social media and serious safeguarding concerns as protection to ensure my child feels safe at the confidential school has not been taken seriously and has been minimised.
The acting head responded by saying, sorry you feel that way maybe you should consider changing schools then.

I felt both shocked and hurt at the same time, surely that's the last thing you would want? I got the feeling she didn't want to deal with this and if I took my child out of school then the problem would go away. She wouldn't have to deal with me.

However, what I did appreciate from the meeting was that she said she was sorry and informed me that I did fill out consent forms which she had seen and that I stated strictly no photographs to be taken and no to posting it over social media, school website etc.

But as parental consent wasn't given isn't that a breach of personal data and serious safeguarding concern?

The head also stated that in one of the occassions the staff member verbally asked all the children if they were allowed to be on social media before taking the photo. My child is 5 years old! He does not have the understanding. That can't be human error as the head is suggesting!

The head made an excuse saying the staff were overworked as there were staff shortages and it was the last day of term. Sorry but that is unacceptable!

I find it concerning that all members of staff from the headteacher down to tas have the authority to post photographs of children on social media and it doesnt matter if that child is not known to them such as their key stage/class etc. Surely all the members of staff don't remember every child's name so how can they identify the child who isn't allowed to be on social media?

I asked if the ICO were informed? The acting head asked me who they were? When I gave the full name, she said 'oh gosh no' as to say why would they be informed. Again minimising the safeguarding issue and the personal data breach.

When I said that I'll be taking matters further she said that's a shame, I was hoping to solve issues in this meeting.

The overall impression i got from her was that I was overreacting by making a big issue of this when it wasn't as it was human error and there wasn't a breach according to her and any safeguarding concerns were minimal.

Also head refused to provide me with her direct school email address and also that of the chair of governor, safeguarding lead and the clerk. She asked why would you need them? "You should write FAO to the generic school email address or write a letter and bring it into school".

Unfortunately, I've checked and the governors email address is not available on the school website which I informed her about.

I told the acting head, given my recent issues with data security, I don't feel comfortable sharing confidential information via the generic school office email, as this doesn't feel secure enough for sensitive matters. Could I request her direct school email address and also that of the school governors so that I can communicate directly with appropriate parties?

The acting head kept cutting me off and not letting me finish my sentence and said that the school generic email is safe and you can contact via that or write a letter FAO governor and hand it into the school office.

I felt so drained coming out of that meeting. Extremely disappointed with the outcome.

What can my next steps be?

When to report to governors?

Any advice given would be hugely appreciated

Thanks in advance

I think pushing safeguarding rather than data breach would be the way to go.

I would email a summary of the meeting to the head / assistant head.

I would also at this time escalate a complaint to the governors. 'Human error' 4 times means their policy/procedure & training on this is clearly not good enough.

I would also look into complaining to ofsted (safeguarding is a key thing) but you may not be able to do this until you have been via the governors.

I would also look at moving schools, though if you do they will probably stop looking at your complaint. At least get names on waiting list.

If you look on the government database, GIAS, for the school you can see the name of chair of governors and you can write a letter to him via the school office and ask for his email address.

So words like:
...you apologised and confirmed I had filled out forms saying no photos ...
. . You explained 2 of the 4 on date and date as 'human error'
.. you did not wish to discuss the two previous breaches on date and date as you said ....
... I stated not satisfied as 4 breaches in x months and calling them 'human error' not good enough....
... I also said data breaches, ico etc ...
...issue unresolved as far as I was concerned at close of meeting ...

Then to governors:
Explain the safeguarding breaches
Explain explanation from school and why not good enough
Explain what you want to see done (upgrade of policy including limited people to post to social media, double checking), training, you to be kept informed, resolved by Feb half term
Or some such.

This infuriates me and "whoops human error" doesn't mean fuck all if these "human errors" keep happening, maybe make sure the human that keeps making these errors stops making them. It's a human error once but not 4 times and not when it's peoples lives at risk (that might sound dramatic but is it really?) imagine if something did happen as a result of this, whoops human error would be the least of their worries.

Definitely justifies escalating.
Reading back, at one point the Safeguarding lead was the person who posted the photo. That's totally unacceptable and inexcusable.
Schools tend to have a set complaints policy but in this case, because of the rationale behind OPs 'no images on social media' this would be something I would take straight to the board of Governors.

Agree that safeguarding is your primary issue here. You’ve hit the nail on the head - class teachers should not be posting directly to social media. Are they using the school account?

Ask the school office for the email address of the clerk to governors if you wish to make contact. This should have been willingly offered to you. I can understand the school not wishing to share the direct email address of the Chair, but you must have a point of contact.

Reading between the lines, you’ve exposed a potentially huge issue for the school which has happened due to poor leadership. I hope the governors support you.

Please PM me OP if you’d like a bit more info.