GUIDE · PHOTOS AND IMAGE RIGHTS
Children's Photos in Daycare: Sharing Them Without WhatsApp or Facebook
Parents want photos, and they're right to want them: here's how to give them without exposing other children.
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In brief
- Photos of children taken at daycare should not be shared in a WhatsApp group or on a Facebook page: each family should only receive the images their own child appears in.
- Photo consent is signed in writing as part of the enrollment file, with two separate agreements — sharing with parents and posting on social media — that can be withdrawn at any time.
- A daycare keeps photos for a period set in advance, hands them over to families before deleting them, and doesn't let them pile up on educators' personal phones.
On this page
Sharing daycare photos: the problem with a WhatsApp group
Parents look forward to news in pictures; a WhatsApp group gives it to them at the cost of every child's privacy.
At 7:30 am, a parent leaves their child in tears and goes to work. A photo of them laughing at 10 am is worth more than any words. That's why families ask for pictures, and why daycares that send them are reassuring. The need is legitimate. It's the channel chosen that's the problem.
In a WhatsApp group, every parent sees other children, saves them, forwards them. On a Facebook page, the image leaves the daycare and escapes all control. And an educator who sends from her own phone gives her personal number to every family in the class, who then call her in the evening and on weekends.
- In a group, every parent sees all the children, not just their own.
- A forwarded photo leaves the daycare: you no longer know where it goes.
- Posted on an open page, the image becomes visible to anyone.
- An educator sending from her own phone gives families her personal number.
Photo consent in daycare: asking for it in writing
A verbal agreement gets lost; a written one can be reread, filed and updated.
Have the photo consent form signed on enrollment day, along with the rest of the file. Include two separate boxes, never just one: photos shared with the class's parents, and posts on the daycare's social media. A parent can accept the first and refuse the second. That's common, and it's their right.
Law 18-07 protects personal data, and a child's image is part of that. What matters most is the principle: parents know what you do with these photos and remain free to change their mind. So include a line stating how to withdraw consent, who to contact, and from when it takes effect.
- Two separate boxes: photos for parents, posts on social media.
- Signed at enrollment, with the date and the legal guardian's name.
- Consent can be withdrawn at any time, in writing, with no need to justify it.
- One consent form per child, reviewed each year with the rest of the file.
Four simple rules for photographing children in class
These four rules fit on a sheet posted in the staff room.
A photo of a child is taken within a framework, not on a whim. Before taking the shot, the educator knows who has given consent: the list must be available in the classroom, not filed away in a binder in the office. A child without consent appears in no shared image, even in the background, even blurred.
A personal phone is not an archive. Photos stay there for months, resurface in the gallery, and get copied into spaces the daycare has no control over. The same rule applies at nap time, during diaper changes and bathroom time: no photos, even to reassure a worried parent.
- Never a child without written consent, even in the background or from behind.
- No photos during naps, diaper changes or bathroom time.
- A group photo sent to a single parent: think before you send.
- Personal phone: transfer to the daycare, then delete the same evening.
How long to keep photos, and how to hand them back to families
Keeping photos forever is neither useful nor wise.
Set a period and write it into your consent form: for example, the current school year, then deletion. A photo from a Sunday back-to-school day has no use three years later, but it stays a risk as long as it exists somewhere. The less you keep, the less you have to protect.
Before deleting, offer families the chance to get their child's images: a message at the end of the year, a clear deadline, and each family saves what they want to keep. When a child leaves the daycare, remove their photos from shared spaces. And if a parent withdraws consent, apply it to photos already shared too, not only future ones.
- A period written into the consent form: the school year, then deletion.
- An end-of-year message so every family can save their photos.
- A child leaving: their images come out of shared spaces.
- Consent withdrawn: already-shared photos are removed too.
With Yaoumy: photos addressed, not broadcast
Yaoumy applies these rules for you, at the exact moment the educator sends.
Before sending, the educator chooses the recipients: one child, several children, a class, or every class. Only the families targeted receive the post. It arrives in the parents' app, not in a group: no one sees other children, and the educator hasn't given her personal number to anyone.
Photo and social media consents are recorded on the child's record. If a child without consent is added to a post, the app warns before sending and offers to send only to consenting families. The links that display the files expire, with a visible date. App and data hosted 100% in Algeria.
- Targeting before sending: one child, a class, or every class.
- Photo and social media consents on the record, with an alert before posting.
- A private gallery in the app: no public link to forward.
- Links that expire, with a visible date, data hosted 100% in Algeria.
6 points to include in your photo consent form
Use these six lines as they are in your enrollment file: they cover the essentials and can be reread in a minute.
- Who takes the photos: the daycare's own team, with the daycare's own equipment.
- What they're for: showing parents their child's day-to-day life.
- Who receives them: only the parents of the children shown in the image.
- A separate box for posts on the daycare's social media.
- How long they're kept, and what happens when that period ends.
- How to withdraw consent: who to contact, and from when it takes effect.
Frequently asked questions about children's photos
Can children's photos be posted on the daycare's Facebook page?
Only with parents' specific written consent for that post: consent given for photos sent to families doesn't cover social media. Include a separate box in the enrollment file. And remember that a posted image can be saved and reshared by anyone, with no way for you to take it back.
What if a parent refuses to have their child photographed?
You respect their refusal, without asking them to justify it. In practice, the child appears in no shared image, including group photos and backgrounds. Note the refusal somewhere the team sees it before taking a shot, not in a binder in the office. And offer the parent other kinds of news: the daily report, a note at drop-off.
Can parents save photos of their own child?
Yes, and that's normal: these are images of their child, and they have the right to keep them. What you can ask is that they not reshare a photo showing other children. Say it once in writing, in the consent form, rather than hoping everyone remembers it when they share.
Who sees group photos taken in class?
That depends entirely on the channel chosen. In a WhatsApp group, every parent in the class sees every child. With a tool that targets recipients, each family only receives posts their own child appears in. Before sending a group photo, check that every visible child has consent.
Photos that only the right families receive
A fifteen-minute demo is enough to see how an educator targets a post, what the app checks before sending, and what the parent receives on their phone.
Practical Guides for Running Your Daycare
Concrete advice on the daily report, children's photos and communicating with parents, ready to apply in your daycare starting tomorrow.
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