Polish kindergartens are to be banned from publishing recognizable photos of their pupils on the open internet — even with parental consent. At the same time, filming events and sharing photos with families is to be kept.
Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reported this on 9 November, citing Poland's Ministry of Education. This is a planned change, not an existing ban; the report does not specify when it will come into force.
According to DGP, the restrictions will affect public and private kindergartens, preschool departments and other forms of preschool education — their employees and service providers. This concerns open websites and social media, including advertising by the institutions.
Exceptions are planned for images where the child cannot be identified and pictures in which they are merely a detail of a general public event.
For schools, a full ban is not proposed. The newspaper describes a different approach: parental consent must define the purpose and place of publication, and starting from grade IV — also the time limit. Adult students will give consent themselves.
Parents, including Ukrainian families in Poland, should now check with the administration where photos are posted: in an album accessible only to families or on the institution's public page. Sharing photos with parents and public use to promote the kindergarten are different situations.
The measure under discussion concerns institutions. The report does not imply that a general ban on parents publishing family photos is being prepared.
Polish authorities have spoken about protecting children's images before. As early as 10 September, in response to a petition, the Ministry of Education noted that publishing photos creates risks of losing control over the material, its reuse and cyberbullying. A published image can spread beyond the page for which it was provided.
Moreover, specific consent is already an existing principle, not something that will appear only after reform. Poland's Personal Data Protection Office (UODO) explains: consent must be voluntary, understandable, and specify the purpose, manner and period of image use. A general authorization “for any publication without time limit” does not meet these requirements.
If a publication is based on consent, that consent can be withdrawn. UODO points out that the institution must be prepared for the consequences of withdrawal, for example removing the photo from its profile. But deleting the original publication does not guarantee the disappearance of copies that other users may have saved.
Based on: Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, letters from Poland's Ministry of Education dated 10 September 2026, UODO and Fundacja Orange guide on protecting children's images.
