When working with online lecturers or knowledge-sharing audio and video clips, privacy issues for all stakeholders must be considered. Below, we present some tips and guidelines.
If you make a video recording and people in the video are recognisable, you are dealing with personal data… in this case the GDPR (the EU Regulation on Privacy) applies. You must have a legitimate basis for processing these personal data and if you do not, you are not allowed to record a lecture with your students appearing on camera. For other recordings, you will have to seek explicit permission. For each type of video recording, for example a lecture, a knowledge-sharing clip or assessment, we will explain what steps you need to take.
Video recordings
There are various purposes for which you may want to make a video recording. We do not make a distinction here between course material and exam material. In the video recording options below, you can read how you protect the privacy of the students or other people that appear on camera.
Course material/educational videos
Recording an online lecture
No student should be visible in a recording, not even if you were to be given permission for this. This is only allowed in highly exceptional circumstances. We therefore advise you to allow time for moments of interactions and questions during which the recording can be paused. Also take the contents of your presentation into account (think about names and email addresses or pictures). If you want to know more about personal data and how you can take into account your privacy and that of your students, please read this blog (only in Dutch available).
Video recording of a lecture in a lecture hall
You can arrange a recording of a lecture by means of HU Video. In case of a recording in a lecture hall, students will neither be filmed nor be audible. However, it is important to alert students to the fact that a recording is taking place, so they know that if they walk towards the front they may come into view and be heard. The recording is always uploaded to MAM (Media Asset Management) automatically. You will receive a link to MAM via e-mail. For more information on MAM, please visit https://huvideo.hu.nl/het-mam/.
Knowledge-sharing clip and/or educational videos
A video recording can be used for various educational purposes. For example, you want to make a knowledge-sharing clip, so students or other interested parties can watch it later. Or you may want to record a situation that is typical for everyday practice, so students can watch and re-watch it to improve their skills. A medical procedure or an interview would be good examples of such a situation.
When taking screenshots, please make sure to always use the tools provided by the HU. See https://husite.nl/digitalehu/en/distance-education/which-tools-can-be-used-for-online-education/ for more information.
Consent
Anyone appearing in front of the camera in your video must have given their explicit consent for this. It must also be clear to them that this permission is entirely voluntary and they need to know to which end you are creating the recording. You can ask permission using this consent form. Please bear in mind that people can also withdraw their permission and that you will then have to remove any footage from your film that includes them.
Storing and sharing
The GDPR states that we are not allowed to retain personal data indefinitely. This is why it is important to decide in advance what the purpose of your video (and the data processing) is and which retention period is linked to this purpose (commensurate with or prescribed by the purpose). From a privacy perspective, you are not allowed to keep this video “just in case” or “for potential future use”. You need to have a clearly defined purpose and you establish this in advance by thinking about how you want to use the video.
Always share the video via the media environment of the HU: MAM (https://huvideo.hu.nl/het-mam/ in Dutch only). Sharing should not be done by sending the video to the students in your class by email.
If you save the recording as a file in MAM, delete the recording immediately from your own device and then permanently from the recycle bin. The shorter the time the video is stored on your own device, the smaller the risk of privacy-related issues.
Copyright
It is important that you check the material that you intend to use in your online lecture, for example with regard to copyright. Make sure to insert a reference to the source and check whether there are no copyright-related restrictions. You can read more about this on https://bibliotheek.hu.nl/en/support/copyright/.
Exam material
Assessment
To test the skills of a student and validate them (again), it is often necessary to record the student’s practical exam. This may concern a presentation given by the student or a test of certain practical skills.
Legitimate interest as basis for the recording
If the recording of a skill is important for an assessment, we can justify the recording with a legitimate interest. The HU must be able to validate the assessment and the student must have the opportunity to lodge objections against the assessment with recourse to the recordings. The importance of the recordings then outweighs the privacy interests of the student. Make sure to indicate for which purpose you record the assessment and how long you are going to retain the recording.
Students may lodge objections to recordings with the Examination Board. These will then be referred to the Data Protection Officer who will discuss the objection with the student and Examination Board involved.
Consent required from other participants
If other people appear in the recording, for example if you recorded the treatment of a patient, these persons must have given their permission as well. Here too, indicate for which purpose you record the assessment and how long you are going to retain the recording. In addition to this, the other participant(s) must be informed of the option to withdraw this permission afterwards. Here you will find an example of a consent form.
Professional product
For some degree programmes and courses, we ask the students to produce a video or audio recording of their skills. For example, students may film a teaching situation where they are in front of their pupils, or a conversation with a client or a treatment of a patient.
Consent
What all these situations have in common is that the footage allows the identification of (underage) individuals. For this reason, it is necessary that they have given permission for being filmed in advance. It must also be clear to them that this permission is entirely voluntary and they need to know to which end you are creating the recording. For any children under the age of 16, permission must be given by their parents.
Therefore, make sure that students are aware of this and that they know how to take into account the privacy of the people they are filming and that they ensure they have obtained permission by means of a consent form.
Storing and sharing
Students can share their own video project themselves. If the video is created for a summative test, the student can upload the recording to MAM via the submission website of their institute. If the video is not created for the purpose of an exam, the recording can be shared via their HU account, using OneDrive.
Click here for instructions about sharing files using OneDrive.
Make it absolutely clear to your students that they must not share video recordings via email, WhatsApp or social media.
Also point out to students that when they have saved a recording in MAM, they must then delete the recording immediately from their own devices and then permanently from the recycle bin. The shorter the time the video is stored on your own device, the smaller the risk of privacy-related issues.