Photo and media policy

1. Purpose and scope

This policy governs photographs, video and audio recordings made by or for TIPCS at its events, such as General Assemblies, conferences, workshops and training sessions, and their use on the TIPCS website, social media, reports and archive.

It applies to the Board, the executive administration, staff, volunteers, contracted photographers and everyone who attends TIPCS events.

2. Definitions

• Participant: any adult attending a TIPCS event, in person or online.
• Image: a photograph, video or recording in which a person can be identified.
• Consent: a free, specific, informed and clear choice, which may be withdrawn.
• Wide shot: a general view of a room or crowd where no individual is the focus.
• Takedown: removal of an image from TIPCS channels on request.

3. Principles

• Information first: participants are told before the event that images will be made, why and where they may appear.
• Consent and objection: portraits and close shots need consent; any participant may object at any time.
• Children never photographed: TIPCS events are for adults 18 and over; if a minor is present by accident, no image of the minor is kept or published.
• Dignity: images must not humiliate, mislead or be used to suggest support for a political party or cause.
• Neutrality: images are not used for partisan purposes.

4. Rules and procedure

The Board supervises; the executive administration manages and signs. Steps:

• Before the event: registration and invitation texts state that photos and video will be taken, name the purposes (reporting, website, social media, archive) and give an address for objections.
• At the event: visible notices at the entrance; the media team wears identification; a no-photo area or sticker may be offered; participants may say no to the photographer.
• Consent: for individual portraits, interviews, testimonials and close-ups, consent is recorded in writing or electronically; wide shots may be published on the basis of the notice, subject to objection.
• Selection and publication: the communications lead selects images, removes any that show people in vulnerable situations or who objected, and publishes on the website, social media and reports.
• Takedown: on request to Contact@tipcs.org, TIPCS removes the image from its own channels within [delay to be fixed by the Board] and asks partners it has shared it with to do the same.
• Archive: selected images are kept in the TIPCS archive for the period set in section 8.
• Contracts with photographers and any spending on media need three different signatures and a clause on rights and data.

5. Roles and responsibilities

• Board: approves this policy and hears unresolved complaints.
• Executive administration: appoints the media team, signs contracts, responds to takedowns.
• Communications lead: applies the rules, keeps the consent register and the archive.
• Photographers and volunteers: follow instructions, never share raw files outside TIPCS.
• Participants: may object, may withdraw consent and must not photograph others in a way that harasses.

6. Rights and obligations of participants

Every adult participant has the right to be informed, to refuse to be photographed in close-up, to see where an image appears, to withdraw consent and to ask for removal. Participants who take their own photos at TIPCS events should respect other people’s wishes and should not publish images of people who object. Speakers and panelists are informed that sessions may be recorded and published unless stated otherwise.

7. Legal framework

• Organic Law 2004-63 of 27 July 2004 on personal data: an identifiable image is personal data; its use needs a lawful basis, information, and respect for the right of objection.
• Law 94-36 of 24 February 1994 on literary and artistic property (copyright and image use): TIPCS needs a licence from the photographer or an employment or contract clause before using an image, and credits authors where required.
• Constitution of 27 January 2014: protection of private life and personal data.
• Decree-Law 2011-88 on associations: TIPCS reports on its activities and may use images for transparent reporting.
• Code of Obligations and Contracts: contracts with photographers.
• Check the current text of the personal-data law before relying on this, since reform has been discussed publicly.

8. Data protection and archive

Images and consent records are personal data. TIPCS stores them securely with limited access, uses them only for the stated purposes, and does not sell them. The TIPCS declaration to the INPDP is in progress. Retention of images and consent records: [period to be fixed by the Board after the INPDP declaration]. Transfers abroad, including posting on international social platforms, are disclosed in the event notice.

Controller: Tunisian Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies (TIPCS), registered office Avenue Mahmoud Bourguiba, Monastir 5000, Tunisia; contact Contact@tipcs.org. Under Organic Law 2004-63 you may ask to be informed about how your data is used, to access it, to have it corrected, to object to its processing and to have it deleted, within the limits of that law, by writing to Contact@tipcs.org. If you are not satisfied with our answer, you may complain to the National Authority for the Protection of Personal Data (INPDP), www.inpdp.nat.tn.

9. Safeguarding, non-discrimination and conflicts of interest

No image may identify a person at risk, a survivor of violence or a person whose safety could be endangered by publication. Images of people in sensitive situations are published only with specific consent or not at all. Image selection is fair and not discriminatory. A communications officer with a personal interest in an image, for example a family or business tie to the photographer, declares it and hands the decision to another person. Safeguarding concerns follow the Safeguarding policy.

10. Complaints, whistleblowing and takedown requests

Requests to remove an image, objections and complaints go to Contact@tipcs.org. For confidential matters use the subject “CONFIDENTIAL – Concern”. TIPCS answers within [delay to be fixed by the Board]. Unresolved cases go to the executive administration, then the Board. The complainant may also approach the INPDP. Whistleblowers are protected as Law 2017-10 provides.

11. Review of the policy and version control

The Board reviews this policy at least annually. Each version has a number and date and old versions are archived.