Collecting photos from school events, safely
Parents take the photos, and the school newsletter needs them. Here's how to collect them in a private album without creating a privacy problem, and when not to use this at all.
How it works
- Create your event. Give it a name and a date. It takes under a minute, and you don't need a password or a card.
- Share the QR code. Print the free table cards, add the code to your invitations, or drop the link in a group chat.
- Guests scan and upload. They open the page in their phone's browser and pick their photos. No app, no sign-up.
- See every photo in one place. Browse the album from your dashboard. Paid plans add videos, a ZIP of everything and a live slideshow.
Recommended setup
- Plan
- Event Pro (€29 once) for full-size photos and a ZIP for the newsletter or yearbook. Free holds 50 web-size photos for 7 days.
- Album setting
- Upload-only, always. Parents can add photos, and only the album's manager can browse them.
- Who should upload
- Parents and staff. The upload page isn't designed for pupils to use themselves.
- Before the event
- Check your school's photo policy and your consent records, and name one person to manage the album.
Wording you can copy for your sign
Parents: took a photo today? Share it with the school by scanning here. Only school staff can see uploads, and we'll follow our photo policy before using any of them.
A free album is deleted 7 days after you create it, so upgrade before printing anything ahead of time. Compare plans.
See what you and your guests get
What the regulator says (Ireland)
The Irish Data Protection Commission says GDPR doesn't apply to a purely personal or household activity, such as a parent photographing their child, and that it's up to schools to set their own policies for closed school events. Photos the school itself collects and uses are different: the DPC says schools need one of the GDPR's legal bases for those. Read the DPC's guidance and take advice for your own situation, as this page isn't legal advice.
What Scan & Snap does and doesn't do
Upload-only stops parents browsing what others have added. Shared copies have location data removed, and albums aren't listed anywhere. A manager can delete any photo, or the whole album. But there's no approval queue, no face search, no way to tag or exclude a particular child, and no login for staff, as the dashboard is a private link. If a pupil's photo must never be used, the person checking the album has to spot it themselves. If your school needs more than that, use a tool built for schools.
A simple routine that works
Create one album for each event. Tell parents what you're collecting and why, in the same message as the link. Afterwards, have one person choose the photos, check them against your consent list, and delete the album when you've finished, rather than waiting for it to expire. Then you aren't left holding photos you no longer need.
Questions
Can parents see each other's children in the album?
Not if you use upload-only, which we'd strongly recommend for schools. Only people with the private dashboard link can browse.
Should pupils upload their own photos?
We'd advise against that. Ask parents and staff to do it instead, and follow your school's policy on phones and photography.
Helpful guides
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