Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Data protection definition

What does Data protection mean? In legal practice, data protection describes the rules governing how organisations collect, use, share, retain and secure personal data, including employees’ information. In the UK this regime is set by the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018; in Ireland by the EU GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 (Ireland). The label is descriptive; core concepts (personal data, controller, processor, special category data) and obligations are defined in legislation. In employment, the employer is typically the controller and must identify a lawful basis (for example, contract, legal obligation or legitimate interests) and, for special category data,...

Commercial photography in the UK: UK GDPR/DPA 2018, privacy and ASA compliance—lawful bases, releases and risks, including children, celebrities, crowds, events and weddings

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Practice notes

This Practice Note

This Practice Note explores matters affecting professional photographers who capture images of models or other individuals, as well as the organisations that commission, produce, licence and use photographs for commercial ends. It explains how UK data protection and privacy law applies and should be navigated when photographs are used commercially in the UK. Commercial use means reproducing a photograph in any form primarily aimed at commercial advantage or financial reward, including marketing on a company’s website or its social media channels. While some principles overlap, this Practice Note is not intended to cover editorial use. Press photographers may need to consider additional data protection and privacy considerations, such as the ICO data protection and journalism code of practice or the IPSO Editors’ Code of Practice, and different exemptions may apply. Nor does this note address domestic use limited to purely personal or household activities. This Practice Note covers:

photography and data protection law
how privacy law applies to commercial use of photographs
key issues for photographers and businesses to consider

This Practice Note assumes...

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Anne Mannion

Lewis Silkin LLP

Anne is a Senior Associate in the Data and Privacy department of Lewis Silkin LLP where she advises on all aspects of data protection and privacy law, with a particular focus on the legal and regulatory considerations for businesses protecting their brands.She previously spent 13 years at Swan Turton LLP in the Dispute Resolution Group where she specialised in disputes involving intellectual property, reputation, and photography law. During this time, she was Chair of the Association of Photographers’ Board of Directors and contributed to the legal sections of the Association of Photographers’ guide for professional photographers, Beyond the Lens.Her approach to advising is informed and supplemented by a long history of commercial experience. Before becoming a lawyer, she was a professional actress and then a producer, launching companies in the UK and US to shoot television commercials around the world. She has also served as...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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