When producing corporate video or photo content that involves minors, special care must be taken to ensure proper legal consent is obtained. This is especially critical when the footage is intended for commercial purposes like marketing, recruitment, or internal communications.
Under GDPR, children are considered a protected group, and rules about consent become stricter when minors are involved.
What qualifies as a minor?
In the EU, GDPR allows each country to set its own threshold for when a child can legally give consent. This typically ranges from 13 to 16 years of age. Because these age limits vary, we recommend taking the cautious approach and treating anyone under 16 as a minor.
Participant approval of consent form with selfie picture and signature.
This is also how Mediacloud.ai can handle participant tagging:
- Anyone under age is marked as a minor
- A legal guardian’s full name is recorded as part of the consent
- The minor’s selfie is still used to tag the participant (not the guardian)
Real-world reminders for getting consent on location
When filming minors especially during events, interviews, or public activations, it is easy to assume that a teacher, coach, or adult present can sign on behalf of the child. But this is not valid consent. Only the legal guardian or actual parent has the authority to give consent for a minor’s inclusion in your footage.
Here's what that means in practice:
- Confirm the identity of the legal guardian
- Ensure they personally sign the release or digital consent form
- Do not rely on third-party adults like event organisers or school staff
Built-in safeguards with Mediacloud.ai
Our platform simplifies this process by providing tools for tagging minors and capturing consent from their guardians. You can:
- Flag participants under 16 as minors
- Link their consent and footage to a parent or guardian
- Store their video release form template and consent digitally
- Maintain a searchable archive for future reference or legal compliance
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