Taking and using personal images at BU

Use of personal images

This information applies to anyone who attends a BU event or activity or who accesses BU premises, or who sends BU materials for marketing purposes, whether you are a member of the public, an invited guest of BU, a BU student or a member of BU staff. BU obtains and uses images of individuals (which could be photographs or moving films) within BU and publicly in the following categories of materials:

Prospectuses and other university promotional materials
As part of an advert or advertisement feature (which includes possible use on outdoor media such as buses and billboards)
On our website, intranet, or the websites of our partners and on our social media channels
In promotional videos created by the university
In non-university publications which our marketing team have approved and authorised.

Materials containing these images are likely to be viewed from outside the UK, including locations outside the European Economic Area.

This page explains how we manage the taking and use of these images in compliance with the data protection legislation.

When and how BU obtains images

We often take photographs or films at events that we host or activities that we ask people to attend, so that we can use them for marketing purposes. In addition, we sometimes take candid photographs of individuals on BU premises. We also ask students to send us photographs of their activities on trips or placements or in connection with their other activities, and BU staff will sometimes share photographs of staff or students which they think may be suitable for the uses set out above.

Events and activities

If you are attending one of our events or activities and you don't want your image to be used then you can usually opt out. Just let the photographer and a member of our staff know. That way we will instruct our photographer not to take any images of you and to delete any images already taken. You are also advised to take steps yourself to stay out of the shot, as you may appear in the background in error. However for very large scale events, in particular graduation, we will not be able to prevent the taking and use of your image by our photographers: if you have any concerns about this, please contact us ahead of the event.

Photography on campus

When taking photographs on campus, we will display banners, post notices or make announcements to inform those in the area that photography is in progress. If you prefer not to have your image taken or used, please inform our photographer. They will ensure that no images of you are captured, or they will delete any images that have already been taken.

Pre-arranged photography

This applies if we collect your image as part of a specific activity focused on you, e.g. when interviewing you or asking you to take part in a photo-shoot which relates to you individually or a small group. In these circumstances we will ask you to sign a consent form to confirm whether you are happy for us to use the image as outlined above, and we will only photograph you and keep your image where you have signed the form.

Photographs supplied by staff and students

If you provide BU staff with your own image for marketing purposes, this will be taken as indicating your consent to use the image for the purposes above. If you send us photographs or films which include anyone else, you will need to read the guidance at the end of this page.

Legal basis

Under the data protection legislation we need to provide information about the legal basis on which we process images (“processing” covers the taking, storage and use of your image for the purposes outlined above).

The legal basis for our processing of images is usually that this is necessary for legitimate interests pursued by BU, i.e. increasing awareness of BU’s activities and sharing information of interest to the public. By providing the information and guidance set out in this document, and ensuring that we use images in an appropriate way, we aim to ensure an appropriate balance between these BU interests and the privacy rights of the individuals.

However, if we have asked you to sign a form to confirm your agreement to our use of your image, the legal basis for processing will be consent.

Storing your image

Unless we say otherwise on our consent form, we will keep your image securely in our image library for a maximum of ten years with a view to using it for the purposes set out above, or for as long as we are continuing to actively use it in one of these ways. On request we will delete your image from our records: please let us know on [email protected] if you wish to withdraw any consent you have given for use of your image or you object to our continued use or storage of it.

Images taken by third parties

The information above applies to BU’s use of images which are taken by or on behalf of BU or provided to BU for our use. Please note that BU may not be able to restrict or prevent the taking and use of images by third parties who are present at our events or activities or on our premises, but who are not taking images on behalf of BU. You can let us know if you have concerns about photography by third parties and we may be able to help you approach the third party about your concerns. However, it is likely that any formal action to prevent use of your image by a third party will need to be taken by you.

Questions or concerns?

If you have any concerns about use of your image or wish to raise any objections in the future, you should contact the BU Design Team on [email protected] or BU’s Data Protection Officer at [email protected].

Information about other processing of your personal information by BU is provided in our privacy notices:

General Enquiries and Events Privacy Notice (for members of the public or BU guests)
Student Privacy Notice.

Taking images at or for BU: Guidance for staff and students

For the purposes described above, we sometimes use images which were taken by BU academic staff or students. Staff may take images to support teaching and learning activity and then share them with our marketing and communications staff. Students are often asked to take and share pictures of their activities on trips or work placements or doing other activities, so that they can be used in BU materials about the student experience.

Images of yourself

If you share an image of yourself, this will be taken as indicating your permission to use the image for the purposes above.

Your rights as a data subject

Under the data protection laws you have a number of rights in relation to our processing of your data. In summary these are:

Right to request access to your data as processed by BU and information about that processing (a subject access request)
Right to rectify any inaccuracies in your data
Right to request erasure of your data from our systems and files
Right to place restrictions on our processing of your data
Right to object to our processing of your data
Right to data portability: where we are processing data that you have provided to us, on the basis of consent or as necessary for the performance of a contract between us, you have the right to ask us to provide your data in an appropriate format to you or to another controller.

Most of these rights are subject to some exceptions or exemptions, depending on the purposes for which data is being processed.

If you have any questions or concerns about our processing of your data, please contact the BU Data Protection Officer (DPO):

Email: [email protected]

Address: Poole House, Bournemouth University, Fern Barrow, Poole BH12 5BB

If you would like to exercise any of your rights as outlined above, you can contact the DPO as above or visit the Data Protection page on our website to access the relevant forms.

We will always aim to respond clearly and fully to any concerns you have about our processing and requests to exercise the rights set out above. However, as a data subject if you have concerns about our data processing or consider that we have failed to comply with the data protection legislation then you have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner:

Online reporting: https://ico.org.uk/concerns