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Hurley Regatta Photography Policy

Hurley Regatta Event Photography Policy

Last reviewed: 17 July 2026

Policy owner: Hurley Regatta Committee

Privacy contact: chair@hurleyregatta.co.uk

1. Purpose of this policy

Hurley Regatta Committee recognises the value of photography in recording, celebrating and promoting Hurley Regatta and Fun Day.

This policy explains:

  • when official photography may take place

  • how photographs may be used

  • how we protect children and other people who may be vulnerable

  • how attendees can raise a privacy or safeguarding concern

  • the standards expected of official photographers, local media and members of the public

  • how photographs are selected, stored, shared and deleted

This policy should be read alongside:

2. Scope

This policy applies to photography carried out at or in connection with Hurley Regatta and Fun Day by:

  • members of Hurley Regatta Committee

  • people authorised to take photographs on behalf of the Committee

  • Event volunteers and officials

  • local media

  • sponsors and supported charities

  • traders and activity providers

  • competitors and team members

  • spectators and other Event attendees

For the purposes of this policy, “photographs” includes digital and printed still images.

Hurley Regatta Committee does not currently plan to undertake official video recording or drone photography. Any future proposal to use official video or drone photography must be assessed separately and communicated clearly before it takes place.

3. Our approach

Hurley Regatta is a public community event at which photography can reasonably be expected.

We aim to balance:

  • the community value of recording and promoting the Event

  • the privacy and data protection rights of attendees

  • the particular protection required for children

  • safeguarding and personal safety

  • the wishes of people who raise a specific concern

Photography will be carried out openly. We will not knowingly use hidden cameras or covert photography for Event promotion.

We will take reasonable steps to inform attendees that photography is taking place and explain how they can raise a concern.

4. Who is responsible for official photography?

Official Event photography will be carried out by:

  • Hurley Regatta Committee members

  • people specifically authorised by Hurley Regatta Committee

Official photographers will be identifiable by a Committee or Staff T-shirt or another form of Event identification.

All official photographers must:

  • read and follow this policy

  • comply with instructions from the Committee

  • behave appropriately around children and vulnerable people

  • respect safety barriers and operational areas

  • respond appropriately when someone raises a concern

  • report safeguarding concerns immediately

  • transfer photographs to the Committee securely

  • delete Event photographs from personal devices when instructed and when no longer required

  • avoid using Event images for their own unrelated purposes

Official photographers must not assume that wearing Event identification gives them unrestricted access to any area or person.

5. Purposes of official photography

Official photographs may be taken and used to:

  • report on Hurley Regatta and Fun Day

  • record land-based and water-based races

  • publish race results

  • celebrate competitors, teams and winners

  • recognise volunteers, officials and community support

  • record prize-giving and presentations

  • promote future Hurley Regatta events

  • support fundraising activity

  • recognise the Event’s chosen charity

  • provide approved material to sponsors and supported charities

  • support local media coverage

  • create printed programmes, posters, advertisements and displays

  • publish content on the Hurley Regatta website

  • publish content through Hurley Regatta social media accounts

  • produce newsletters and Event communications

  • preserve the history of Hurley Regatta

Photographs will not be sold or supplied for an unrelated commercial advertising campaign without an appropriate lawful basis and, where required, separate permission.

6. Lawful basis for official photography

Where a person can be identified from a photograph, the image may be personal information under UK data protection law.

Hurley Regatta Committee will normally rely on its legitimate interests when taking and using proportionate general Event photographs, including:

  • wide crowd scenes

  • general views of the Regatta Field

  • races and activities in progress

  • competitors taking part

  • team photographs taken in the context of a race

  • starts and finishes

  • prize-giving

  • photographs in which people appear incidentally

Our legitimate interests include reporting on the Event, promoting future Regattas, recognising participants and volunteers, supporting fundraising and maintaining a historical record.

The Committee will maintain a legitimate interests assessment for its general Event photography and will consider:

  • whether the photograph is necessary for the intended purpose

  • whether the use is proportionate

  • what the people shown would reasonably expect

  • the potential privacy effect

  • whether children are shown

  • whether less intrusive alternatives are available

  • whether any objection or safeguarding concern has been raised

Consent may be used where a photograph is more focused, planned or promotional, particularly where a child is the principal subject.

7. Informing attendees

The Committee will take reasonable steps to tell attendees that official photography is taking place.

This may include:

  • information on the Hurley Regatta website

  • wording in the Event Terms and Conditions

  • wording in the Privacy Notice

  • notices at Event entrances

  • notices at the Event entry desk

  • announcements in the Event programme

  • signs near prize-giving or organised photography areas

  • information provided to parents and guardians

Notices should explain:

  • that official photography is taking place

  • how photographs may be used

  • how to identify an official photographer

  • where to report a concern

  • where to read the Privacy Notice

8. General and incidental photography

The Committee may take general photographs of crowds, races, activities, presentations and the Event site without obtaining individual consent from every person shown.

It may not be practical to identify or obtain permission from everyone appearing incidentally in a wide crowd, background or race photograph.

Attendees who do not wish to be a principal subject of official photography should notify the Committee using the arrangements in section 13.

The Committee will take reasonable steps to respect a request. However, it cannot guarantee that a person will not appear incidentally in:

  • a wide crowd photograph

  • a background image

  • a photograph of a race or activity

  • an image taken before the concern was reported

  • a photograph taken independently by a spectator

  • material created by local media

9. Posed and promotional photographs

A distinction will be made between general Event photography and a planned promotional photograph focused on a particular person.

The Committee should obtain clear permission before arranging:

  • an individual posed promotional portrait

  • a recorded testimonial

  • a planned close-up advertising photograph

  • a photograph created specifically for an external commercial campaign

  • a photograph of a child as the principal subject of a future promotional campaign

Permission for posed promotional photography will be optional.

Refusing permission will not prevent a person or child from attending the Event or taking part in a race or activity.

Where consent is the lawful basis, the Committee will record:

  • who gave consent

  • the intended use

  • the date consent was given

  • any limitations placed on the use

Consent may be withdrawn by contacting chair@hurleyregatta.co.uk. Withdrawal will not affect use that took place before consent was withdrawn.

10. Photography of children

Children may appear in general photographs of:

  • races

  • teams

  • activities

  • crowd scenes

  • starts and finishes

  • prize presentations

  • winning teams

The Committee will take additional care when selecting, publishing and sharing photographs of children.

We will try to avoid using a child as the principal subject of a posed or planned promotional photograph unless express permission has been obtained from their parent or legal guardian.

Where appropriate, the wishes of the child should also be considered. A child should not be pressured to be photographed where they are unwilling or uncomfortable.

Official photographers must not:

  • arrange to photograph a child alone in a secluded place

  • take a child away from their parent, guardian, team or activity

  • ask a child for their home address, telephone number, social media account or other personal contact information

  • engage in unnecessary physical contact

  • photograph a child who is changing

  • take intrusive photographs of a child’s clothing or body

  • photograph a child in distress, injured or receiving first aid unless required for incident-management purposes

  • publish or retain an image that creates an avoidable safeguarding risk

Where reasonably practicable, photographs of children should:

  • show the child participating positively in the Event

  • be appropriate to the activity

  • avoid revealing personal or safeguarding information

  • avoid showing a child in a vulnerable or embarrassing situation

  • show children wearing suitable clothing for the activity

  • avoid unnecessary close-ups where a wider activity photograph would meet the purpose

11. Names and identifying information

Children’s names, team names, race categories and results may appear in programmes and published race results.

The Committee will not normally publish a child’s full name directly alongside a close-up promotional photograph unless:

  • there is a clear and legitimate reason

  • appropriate permission has been obtained

  • the use has been assessed as safe and proportionate

Photographs must not be published with:

  • a child’s home address

  • personal telephone number

  • personal email address

  • school details, unless there is a justified and authorised reason

  • medical information

  • safeguarding information

  • details that reveal a confidential location

  • other information likely to place the child at risk

Where names are not necessary, captions should use a team name, race name, first name or general description instead.

12. Images that should not be used

The Committee will not knowingly publish photographs that:

  • show a child or vulnerable person in distress

  • show someone receiving medical treatment

  • reveal private medical or safeguarding information

  • portray a person in a humiliating or degrading way

  • contain an avoidable wardrobe malfunction

  • focus intrusively on a person’s body

  • show dangerous conduct in a way that appears to endorse it

  • reveal passwords, payment details, emergency contacts or private paperwork

  • create an identifiable safeguarding or security risk

  • were obtained deceptively

  • appear to have been taken for an improper purpose

  • breach copyright or another person’s legal rights

Photographs of accidents, injuries or safety incidents should only be taken where reasonably required to document or investigate the incident. They must not be used for general publicity.

13. Raising a photography or safeguarding concern

Before the Event, concerns can be reported to:

chair@hurleyregatta.co.uk

At the Event, concerns should be reported to:

  • the Event entry desk

  • any official wearing a Committee or Staff T-shirt

The Committee will make a sticker, wristband or other identification method available to help official photographers recognise people who have asked not to be photographed.

The identifier does not replace the need to notify the Event entry desk. Where possible, the attendee, parent or guardian should also tell an official photographer before an organised or close-up photograph is taken.

The Committee will:

  • record the concern

  • explain the arrangements available

  • notify relevant official photographers

  • take reasonable steps to avoid focused or close-up official photographs

  • consider whether any existing image should be removed or restricted

  • escalate safeguarding concerns to the appropriate Committee member

The identity of a person who raises a safeguarding concern should only be shared with people who need the information to manage the concern.

14. Requests concerning published photographs

A person, parent or guardian may contact chair@hurleyregatta.co.uk to:

  • ask where an official photograph has been used

  • object to continued use

  • withdraw consent where consent was relied upon

  • request removal of an online image

  • request correction of an inaccurate caption

  • raise a safeguarding concern

  • exercise a data protection right

The Committee will consider each request fairly and without undue delay.

Where reasonable and within its control, the Committee may:

  • remove the photograph from its website

  • delete a social media post

  • replace the photograph

  • remove or change a caption

  • restrict further promotional use

  • ask a sponsor or supported charity to stop using the image

The right to removal is not absolute. The Committee may be unable to:

  • retrieve printed material already distributed

  • remove copies downloaded or republished by another person

  • remove material published independently by a media organisation

  • delete evidence needed for an accident, complaint or legal claim

  • remove an image where there is a compelling lawful reason to retain it

  • delete selected material lawfully retained in the historical archive

The Committee will explain its decision where it does not agree to a request.

15. Official photography equipment and personal devices

Committee members may use Committee equipment or personal devices for official Event photography.

Where a personal device is used, the photographer must:

  • protect it with a passcode, password, biometric lock or equivalent control

  • prevent unauthorised access to Event photographs

  • avoid automatic uploading to an unauthorised personal cloud or social media account

  • transfer selected images to the approved Committee system securely

  • delete rejected and transferred images from the device when no longer required

  • remove images from the device’s deleted-items folder where reasonably practicable

  • report loss, theft or unauthorised access immediately

  • not retain Event images for personal or unrelated use

Official photographs must not be shared through personal social media accounts unless the Committee has approved the image and the account is being used as an authorised Event channel.

16. Selection and approval

Before an official photograph is published, reasonable checks should be made to confirm that:

  • the image is suitable for the intended purpose

  • publication would not create an obvious safety or safeguarding concern

  • any necessary permission has been obtained

  • people who have raised a known objection are not the principal subject

  • the caption is accurate

  • the caption does not disclose unnecessary personal information

  • the image does not show confidential documents or information

  • the image is consistent with this policy

Images involving a safeguarding concern, a child as the principal promotional subject, an accident or another sensitive context should be referred to the Chairman or a nominated Committee member before use.

17. Sharing images with sponsors and charities

Selected Event photographs may be shared with:

  • the Event’s supported charity

  • Event sponsors

  • local community organisations

  • approved Event partners

Images should only be shared for an agreed purpose connected with Hurley Regatta.

The Committee should tell the recipient:

  • the permitted purpose

  • whether any caption or naming restrictions apply

  • whether further sharing is permitted

  • whether consent has been obtained for a particular use

  • what to do if the Committee later requests removal

An identifiable image must not be supplied for an unrelated commercial campaign without an appropriate lawful basis and, where necessary, permission from the person shown or the child’s parent or guardian.

Once an independent organisation determines its own use of an image, it may have its own responsibilities under data protection law.

18. Local media

Local media may attend Hurley Regatta and take photographs or recordings for journalistic purposes.

Where practicable, media representatives should:

  • identify themselves to the Committee

  • comply with Event safety rules

  • respect restricted areas

  • follow reasonable safeguarding instructions

  • avoid intrusive photography

  • respond appropriately to a safeguarding concern raised by the Committee

Media organisations are normally responsible for deciding how they collect, use and publish their own images.

The Committee cannot guarantee that it can remove photographs published independently by a newspaper, broadcaster or other media organisation. Requests concerning those images may need to be directed to the relevant publisher.

19. Photography by spectators and participants

Spectators and participants may take photographs for personal use, subject to the Event Terms and Conditions.

Personal photography must not:

  • interfere with a race or activity

  • obstruct an Event official or emergency route

  • take place from a restricted or unsafe area

  • involve intrusive or inappropriate images of children

  • take place in toilets, changing areas, first-aid areas or other private spaces

  • harass, intimidate or distress another person

  • involve equipment that creates a safety risk

  • be used unlawfully

  • disregard a reasonable instruction from an Event official

A person taking photographs for a professional, commercial or organised promotional purpose should obtain the Committee’s permission before doing so.

The Committee does not control photographs taken independently by members of the public. Each person is responsible for how they take, publish and share their own images.

20. Suspected inappropriate photography

Concerns about inappropriate or suspicious photography should be reported immediately to:

  • the Event entry desk

  • a Committee member

  • an official wearing a Committee or Staff T-shirt

The concern should be recorded and referred promptly to the Chairman or nominated safeguarding contact.

Depending on the circumstances, the Committee may:

  • speak to the person concerned

  • ask them to stop the activity

  • direct them away from a restricted area

  • require them to leave the Event

  • preserve relevant information

  • contact the police or another appropriate authority

  • follow the Event safeguarding procedure

Committee members and volunteers should not place themselves at risk, attempt to seize equipment or conduct their own search of a person or device.

Where there is an immediate danger or suspected criminal conduct, the police should be contacted.

21. Social media

Before publishing an official photograph on social media, the Committee should consider:

  • whether the image is suitable for a public audience

  • whether the account is public

  • whether the photograph shows a child

  • whether location information creates a risk

  • whether names or tags are necessary

  • whether the image could cause distress or embarrassment

  • whether permission is required

  • whether a known objection applies

Official posts should not invite members of the public to identify an unnamed child.

The Committee should not tag a child’s personal social media account.

Where a person requests removal of a photograph from an official social media account, the request will be considered under section 14.

22. Storage and retention

Official photographs will be stored securely with access limited to Committee members and other authorised people who require access.

Routine promotional photographs will normally remain in the active Event image library for up to five years and will then be reviewed.

Following review, photographs may be:

  • deleted

  • anonymised where practicable

  • retained for a further defined period

  • selected for the permanent historical archive

Selected photographs may be retained indefinitely where they have lasting historical or community value.

Photographs connected with an accident, safeguarding concern, complaint, insurance matter or legal claim may be retained for longer where required.

Unsuccessful, inappropriate, unnecessary or duplicate images should be deleted when they are no longer required.

23. Security and data breaches

Official photographs must be protected against:

  • unauthorised access

  • accidental disclosure

  • loss

  • theft

  • inappropriate publication

  • unauthorised copying

  • use for an unrelated purpose

Any lost device, compromised account, misdirected image or other suspected personal data breach must be reported promptly to the Chairman at chair@hurleyregatta.co.uk.

The Chairman will assess the incident and decide whether affected individuals or the Information Commissioner’s Office must be informed.

24. Complaints

Complaints about official photography or the Committee’s use of an image should be sent to:

chair@hurleyregatta.co.uk

The complaint should include:

  • the complainant’s name and contact details

  • a description or copy of the photograph

  • where it was taken or published

  • the reason for the concern

  • the outcome requested

The Chairman will acknowledge the complaint within 30 days.

The Committee will investigate the matter, and the Chairman or an alternative Committee member will respond without undue delay.

A complaint may also be made to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

25. Responsibilities

Hurley Regatta Committee

The Committee is responsible for:

  • approving this policy

  • determining the purposes of official photography

  • maintaining the Privacy Notice

  • completing the legitimate interests assessment

  • briefing official photographers

  • providing photography notices

  • providing the objection-identification arrangement

  • managing objections, complaints and removal requests

  • maintaining appropriate storage and retention arrangements

Official photographers

Official photographers are responsible for:

  • following this policy

  • taking appropriate and proportionate images

  • respecting objections and safeguarding instructions

  • protecting equipment and images

  • reporting concerns and data breaches

  • deleting images when instructed

Parents and guardians

Parents and guardians are responsible for:

  • considering whether they are comfortable with their child being photographed

  • explaining the photography arrangements to their child

  • notifying the Committee of a privacy or safeguarding concern

  • ensuring that the child uses any identification provided

  • respecting the wishes of a child who does not want to participate in a posed photograph

Attendees

Attendees are responsible for:

  • using photography responsibly

  • following Event instructions

  • respecting other people’s privacy

  • reporting immediate safeguarding concerns

  • complying with restrictions around operational and private areas

26. Review of this policy

This policy will be reviewed:

  • before each Hurley Regatta

  • following a significant photography or safeguarding complaint

  • if the Committee introduces video or drone photography

  • if the Committee changes how images are shared or stored

  • when relevant legal or regulatory guidance changes

The current version will be published on the Hurley Regatta website or made available on request.

27. Contact details

Hurley Regatta Committee

Email: chair@hurleyregatta.co.uk

Website: www.hurleyregatta.co.uk

Privacy Notice: www.hurleyregatta.co.uk/privacy-notice

Cookie Policy: www.hurleyregatta.co.uk/cookie-policy

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