Hi All,

Just got a quick question, my company is looking at introducing one of those staff boards that publicly shows your photo and your name. Im not very keen on this as i do not like my picture taken, but also i dont want my details shown on multiple sites i cover.

Obviously I had had my picture taken previously for staff ID etc, but that was for internal things only and not fully public facing.

Can they try to force me into this?

Hello there.

What are the company's reasons for doing this, do you know?

HB

its basically one of those, Welcome to XXXXX your manager is XXXXX with an image, and the staff member on site today is XXXXX with an image

one of the manager has just phoned and mentioned this and i said myself and a few others dont really want their photos displayed. The initial reaction was - Ill just take it from your ID card photo then. Surely if i refuse then this becomes a data protection issue? as i dont want an image of me broadcast. they mentioned its broadcast to people within the organisation, so i said yes but thats controlled. Whos stopping someone taking a photo of a photo displayed on the wall!

Even though i represent my company in a public facing job, surely i should be able to refuse my image being displayed publicly

What does your contract of employment say about the use of photographs ?

Are you in a union, and if so, what is their stance on the subject ?

Im going to look in the contract and policies and procedures now. It was just the general attitude when i said i dont want me image being taken and displayed. - "I'll take it from the ID card, and the public can see your name and staff Id card daily anyway". - yes thats true but they are less than the size of a credit card not a A3/A4 laminated mugshot!

The union rep i would rather go to is on holiday at the mo

There's definitely law on this, but for the life of me I can't recall it without going digging around. But they can't even display your photo on the internal site unless you agree. We had this come up a few years ago with a local council who started putting images on the outlook system (or something, sorry, but my IT skills are confined to "I know what I know") so that recipients of emails saw the person they were communicating with. There has to be an opt out, because there are many reasons why someone may not want their picture displayed publically. It can identify people who don't want to be identified, and it can put people at risk. We had someone who had fled a violent relationship and changed their name etc., and no way did they want their photo circulating. We did get legal advice because the council were being awkward, and that came back saying the reasons why they couldn't. But they haven't stuck in my head as this isn't something that comes up often. I'll ask someone in the office to dig around and see if we still have the advice somewhere.

There's definitely law on this, but for the life of me I can't recall it without going digging around.

Had a little dig around myself. It would appear that a photograph of the OP would be classed as ‘personal data’ under the Data Protection Act and require consent before being published/displayed. Without informed consent (as apposed to coerced consent), unauthorised use would be a breach of the DPA.

The OP also has a right to a private life under the Human Rights Act, and publishing/displaying a photograph could be in breach of this legislation.

You tell them/him no

You can't do that and I forbid you to do it

Had exactly the same argument many times over 35 yrs in me last job

Its your data you decide what's done with it

See i cant really go into too much details or what we do as it will flag up immediately and i'm just sourcing information at the moment.

But we deal with thousands of people on a daily basis, and Yes we have a name badge on our persons and sometimes an id card with our image. But some of the people we have to deal with daily are individuals which cause anti social behavior and also criminal acts. We are not police or security but we are a large part of the local community.

There's been instances where certain ... let em call them "Scrotes" have been on site trying to obtain the name of staff members etc. I ensured that the name badges only contained the first name for that reason to protect peoples right to privacy.

Certain individuals since i raised this have took the attitude that - oh we will get it from your staff id cards then, or, How is your picture displayed different to someone taking a photo of you.

Well the way i see it is, if i see someone trying to take my photo i can turn away, tell them to stop and also delete that image. How can you police your photo on a wall? The photo wouldn't be there all the time, only when your on shift, but that isn't the point in my opinion.

I'm surprised of the initial reactions of "we will take it off the id card then" Ive also told one manager that as there has been no consultation with staff, you cannot just use their image as i think it would be a breach of there personal data (this was before i saw the post above)

Previously my image was added to my outlook, so that when i email anyone it shows what i look like. I wasnt a fan of this as well, but i can live with that more as people i email generally i have to have a form of relationship with them. However i dont with members of the public.

So far i've asked 6 people within my team for their image - Ive approached it as i should in my position, Ive asked them to provide it to me and havent said its up to them, as i cant be accused of trying to influence their decision. They have actually questioned why and out the 6 only 2 have agreed they are happy with their picture displayed.

But we deal with thousands of people on a daily basis, and Yes we have a name badge on our persons and sometimes an id card with our image. But some of the people we have to deal with daily are individuals which cause anti social behavior and also criminal acts.

So there is also a personal safety risk involved. A formal grievance should be raised by as many people as possible, ideally via the union if they have any influence with high level management. If the company still goes ahead with this proposal, you can then lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office.