Using Pictures of Employees

Why Businesses Use Employee Photos

Many companies choose to feature pictures of their staff in marketing materials. Businesses often use employee photos to present a more personal and relatable image compared to relying solely on logos and stock imagery.

Employee photos might appear in a range of places:

• Company websites and team pages
• Brochures and printed marketing materials
• Recruitment campaigns and job adverts
• Social media posts and advertisements
• Internal documents such as organisation charts

While these uses can benefit the business, they also raise legitimate privacy concerns for the employees involved.

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Privacy and Security Concerns

Employees may have valid reasons for not wanting their image shared publicly. In some industries, staff anonymity matters more than others. Banking, law enforcement, social work and certain public sector roles can carry risks if employees become too easily identifiable.

Publishing someone's photograph alongside their name and job title creates traceability through online search engines, professional networking sites and image searches. This could expose them to unwanted contact, harassment or security threats depending on the nature of their work.

Even in lower risk settings, some people simply prefer to keep their professional and personal lives separate. Others may have specific concerns, such as escaping a previous abusive relationship or protecting family members.

Images showing workers going about their duties without names attached may seem lower risk, but under UK GDPR, even unnamed images qualify as personal data if individuals are identifiable by other means. Facial recognition technology means that photos can be matched to individuals through other online sources, so privacy risks remain significant regardless of whether names are included.

Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.

Legal Requirements and Consent

Under UK data protection law, photographs of identifiable individuals count as personal data. The UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018 therefore apply to how businesses collect, use and store employee images.

Employers need to establish a lawful basis for using staff photos. For marketing purposes, this often means obtaining clear consent from each employee. However, employers may also rely on legitimate interests as a lawful basis, provided they conduct a legitimate interests assessment and ensure these interests do not override employees' privacy rights.

Consent should be freely given, specific and informed. This means explaining exactly where and how the image will be used before asking the employee to agree. Employees should never feel pressured into appearing in company materials. Consent should be genuinely optional, with no negative consequences for declining. Employers might demonstrate this through documented policies, independent oversight of consent processes, or clear written confirmation that declining will not affect employment status.

Given the inherent power dynamics between employers and employees, care should be taken to ensure that consent is truly voluntary.

Staff should be able to withdraw consent later if their circumstances change. When someone leaves the company or changes their mind, the business should remove their image within a reasonable timeframe. Note that withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing that occurred before withdrawal.

The Information Commissioner's Office provides detailed guidance on consent and the use of personal data on its website.

Practical Steps for Employers

Businesses that want to use employee photos should put clear policies in place. A straightforward consent form that explains where images will appear and how long they will be kept gives employees the information they need to make a genuine choice.

Consider offering alternatives for those who prefer not to be photographed. Some companies use illustrated avatars, initials or simply leave certain team members off public pages.

Keep records of who has given consent and for which purposes. Review these periodically, particularly when marketing materials are updated or when staff leave. Where photo usage could result in high risk to individuals, consider whether a data protection impact assessment is required.

Ensure employees receive training on their privacy rights and company policies relating to personal data. Implement appropriate technical safeguards to secure how employee photos are stored and shared. Establish clear terms governing any third party use of employee images, including social media reposting or marketing partnerships.

A photo in an internal newsletter carries different risks than one on a public website or billboard advertisement. The broader the distribution, the more consideration employees deserve before their image is used.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Workplace Privacy Checker lets you describe what your employer is monitoring or asking for and find out whether it is lawful under UK privacy and data protection law. Try it now →