Laws around storing images of children

zig

Hi,
We are working on a site that involves parents uploading images of their children, ideally we need to keep these images on our server for future access.

However the images will never be published on a website or be publicly available.

Are there any issues around this that we should watch out for? Should we perhaps declare this somewhere to someone?

Last thing I want is a visit from the Guards.

MarkR

Try contacting the Data Protection Commissioners. I'd say that's your best bet.

Link

You may also want to have a policy on acceptable conduct, and recommendations on keeping personal info personal.

syklops

Last think I want is a visit from the Guards.

No, the last thing you want is a headline "1000s of child images stolen from <insert your website name here>".

Answer: Encryption, encryption, encryption.

Manach

As the previous posters said. On the Data protection aspects, the photos are personal information under the relevant act. So you need to have the parent's permission and clearly identify any usage that are the be made of the images outside the core minimal processing of such for storage and any 3rd party access to such.

zig

Thanks everyone, that should do it!

Fingers!

Are you going to moderate the uploads or could any Jo Fritzel Bloggs register and upload pictures you might not want on that server?

zig

Sorry never saw that question,

Well to be honest the site wouldnt be user friendly if the uploads were to be moderated, and one of the key solutions this site is providing over its competitors is how quick and easy it is to use.

But the images arent available anywhere publicly, so its not like someone else will click onto the site and randomly see dodgy images.

amen

But the images arent available anywhere publicly, so its not like someone else will click onto the site and randomly see dodgy images.

But someone could upload indecent/illegal images and you wouldn't know. Would you then be liable to hosting/allowing someone to host illegal images?

DeVore

What sort of images and what sort of website stores images which are never publically available or never published on the website??!

Someone at some stage will view them surely? otherwise whats the point? (if this is conditional access, like an invite list/link... that still counts as published btw).

I am not a lawyer and I'm not advising you (you have to pay me lots to do that but I would
1. Put it in your T's &C's that you reserve the right to have staff review any image uploaded.
2. Encrypt uploads with 128 bit encryption.
3. DO NOT: STORE THE KEYS TO THE ENCRYPTION IN THE SAME DATABASE AS THE IMAGES! <-- DO NOT DO THAT! THAT IS BAD!
4. Sample-review users every now and then. You can do this really quickly with some page of thumbnails with like 50 images a page. Make sure new users are reviewed shortly after first upload and old users are reviewed occasionally.