A note up front: this post explains the basics generally and is no substitute for legal advice. When in doubt — especially with children's photos and commercial use — the specific question belongs with a lawyer or the responsible data-protection authority.
The two legal bases in simple words
For photos of recognizable people, two frameworks interlock. The older is the right to one's own image (established in European law for over a century): images in which someone is recognizable may generally only be distributed with their consent. There are exceptions — the most important for events: images of assemblies and gatherings the depicted people took part in. This means the event as a whole: the full festival meadow, the parade, the audience in front of the stage — not the zoomed-in individual portrait pulled from the crowd.
The newer framework is the GDPR: a photo of a recognizable person is personal data, its publication a processing that needs a legal basis — usually consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) or legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)), such as a club's public relations, weighed against the interests of those depicted. For the everyday of clubs, schools, and companies, the practical consequence of both frameworks is pleasingly the same — it's in the next paragraph.
The practical rule of thumb: wide shots yes, portraits ask
- Uncritical: overview shots of the party where the event is in the foreground and individuals are incidental — the meadow from the stage, the cake stand with a queue, the dance group's performance as a group.
- Get consent: anything that makes a single person the subject — the laughing face at the grill in close-up, the portrait of the chairperson, the winner's photo with a name in the caption.
- Doubly careful: unflattering situations (food in the mouth, rows of beer glasses, guests dancing late at night). Even where an exception might apply: what exposes someone doesn't belong online — out of respect, long before the law.
Special case children: the strictest category
For minors, the guardians decide — for mature teenagers, additionally themselves. For schools and daycares, the parents' written consent is the established standard, typically collected at the start of the school year, with separate checkboxes for website, school newspaper, and social media — blanket "for everything" clauses are considered problematic. Important to know: consent is revocable. If a family revokes it, the image must disappear from the website — so a photo list recording which photo was published where is worth keeping.
The plan for the next party
- Announce beforehand: in the invitation and on a notice at the entrance ("Photos will be taken at the party for the website and club newsletter. Anyone who doesn't want to be photographed, please tell the photo team."). This doesn't replace consent for portraits, but creates transparency — which the GDPR requires anyway.
- Name a photo team: a few named people instead of "everyone snaps for the website". That makes approaching people and sorting out possible.
- For portraits, ask directly — and accept a no without fuss. Consent can be verbal; in writing (even as a short message) it's provable.
- Sort out before upload: unflattering images, recognizable non-consenters, zoomed individuals without asking — out. When in doubt: the party can be told with 20 images where everything is right.
- Offer a deletion route: a contact address below the gallery ("Are you in a photo and don't want to be? An email is enough.") — and then act on requests promptly.
The technical part before upload
Once the selection is set, comes the part we do best here:
- Check metadata. Phone photos from the party carry GPS coordinates and device data. Before upload, view and remove it with the metadata editor — browser-local, the images don't leave your computer.
- Shrink. For the gallery, 1600–2048 px on the long edge is enough (resize tool, in batch). Side effect: smaller web versions are more data-thrifty than 30-megapixel originals you can zoom every face out of.
- Compress. JPG at quality 80 via the compression tool — the gallery loads fast, even on a phone on the marquee Wi-Fi.
In short
Overview images of the party are usually fine, portraits need a yes, children's photos the parents' yes, and an offered deletion route catches the rest. Plan this before the party and you publish afterward without a stomachache. For the related question of whose images you may use at all — copyright, stock licenses, AI images — there's the dedicated post Image rights 2026.
Sources
GDPR Art. 6 — Lawfulness of processing · GDPR Art. 7 — Conditions for consent.