For a club in Germany, a photo consent form records whether and where the club may show pictures in which a member can be recognised: on the website, on social media, in the club magazine or in the newspaper. For children, it is usually the parents or legal guardians who sign. Here you will find what such a form should contain, what to watch out for with photos of children and how to organise it in everyday club life. There is also a short example to adapt.
Not legal advice. This guide helps you ask the right questions, but it does not replace a legal review. For your club, it is best to use the template from your regional sports federation (Landessportbund) or your sport's governing body, in Austria the one from your regional or umbrella association, and to ask them or a lawyer if anything is unclear.
Checklist: what belongs in a photo consent form
A good form is short, easy to understand and gives people real choices. These points should be in it:
- Who is asking: the name and address of the club and a contact person for data protection questions.
- For whom: the member's name, and for children also their team or group.
- Which photos: for example from training, matches, tournaments and club events, as individual or group pictures.
- Where they appear: each channel as its own tick box, so website, social media with the name of the platform, club magazine, notice board and press.
- Name with the picture: a separate question on whether the first name, surname or team may be given with the photo.
- Voluntary: a sentence saying that a no has no disadvantages. The child plays whether or not they appear in photos.
- Withdrawal: that consent can be withdrawn at any time, completely or for individual channels, and who to contact to do so.
- Duration: how long the consent applies, for example until it is withdrawn, until membership ends or until a set date.
- Limits of the internet: an honest note that photos online can be copied by others and then cannot be fully retrieved.
- Privacy information: where the club's detailed data protection information can be found.
- Date and signature: for children, usually that of the parents or legal guardians.
Photos of children in the club: what to pay particular attention to
For children, it is usually the parents or legal guardians who sign, and they should know exactly where their child's picture might appear. Many templates provide for older children and teenagers to sign as well; your association can tell you what applies to you.
- Show children doing sport and in sports kit, not in the changing room and not in moments that might embarrass them later.
- With photos of children, give the first name at most, or no name at all. Where they live, their school and their birthday do not belong with the picture.
- Ask again when a new channel is added, such as a new social media account for the club.
- Agree a rule for the parents' group chat: photos showing other children stay in the group and are not posted publicly.
Example of a photo consent form for clubs
The following example shows what a short form can look like. It is non-binding and not legal advice: check it before you use it, adapt it to your club and, if in doubt, use the template from your regional sports federation or association. It does not replace your club's detailed privacy information.
Most clubs in Germany and Austria work with German-language forms. A German version of this example is on the German page of this guide.
How to organise consent in everyday club life
A form only helps if the people who take photos and post them know what it says.
- Ask when people join: include the form with the membership application as a separate sheet, so it is clear that signing it is voluntary. That way nobody new is missing one.
- One list for everyone who posts: whoever looks after the website or social media channels checks it before every post. A colour system helps: green for everything, amber for some channels, red for no publication.
- Pass it on at the start of the season: whoever takes over a team gets the list for that team.
- Take withdrawals seriously: if someone withdraws consent, remove the pictures from your channels promptly and update the list.
- Store them safely: signed forms belong in a locked folder or protected digital storage, not in a kit bag.
And the photos in the team yearbook?
With a Flashbook, for children the parents fill in the questionnaire and upload their child's two photos themselves. That way every family decides which pictures and answers about their child go into the book. Photos and answers are only used for the book; more on this under children's photos and data protection. For the team photo on the extra page, the same applies as for any group picture: make sure beforehand that everyone agrees. Tips for the photo itself are in our sports team photo ideas.