Private schools across Dubai have introduced new guidance effective this week barring parents and visitors from taking photographs or videos on school premises without the consent of everyone who might appear in them. The move aligns school practice with UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on the protection of personal data and with oversight from the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, Dubai's private education regulator.
Under the new rules, photography and filming are restricted in classrooms, corridors, playgrounds, morning assemblies and the drop-off and pick-up zones, areas where other students or staff could easily be caught in frame without agreeing to it. Schools have also asked parents not to share any such images on social media or messaging groups like WhatsApp unless every family whose child appears has given explicit consent.
Administrators say the restriction will not apply to official events. Graduation ceremonies, sports days and art exhibitions will still include designated photo opportunities, organised under existing consent and safeguarding procedures so parents can capture milestones without breaching other families' privacy.
The change reflects a broader push across the UAE's education sector to tighten data protection in schools, particularly in Dubai's multicultural classrooms where families often come from backgrounds with differing comfort levels around having children's images shared publicly. School leaders describe the policy as a response to recurring concerns from parents who did not want informal photos of their children circulating beyond the classroom.
Education consultants have welcomed the step as consistent with the UAE's wider data protection framework, though some have urged schools to issue clearer guidance for larger events such as sports days, where keeping track of consent for every child in a crowd is harder to manage in practice.