A photography agency which operated out of Bayfair has been slammed by the Privacy Commission for unauthorised use of children's images.

Expression Sessions set up a stall in Bayfair Shopping Centre in 2014, offering free photo shoots for children, with the option for parents to late purchase prints.

A mother took Expression Sessions up on the offer, but did not ultimately purchase the photos of her children.

She was told the photos would be deleted.

Last year, the woman found the photos used in a variety of advertising material for Expression Sessions, including a large print poster in a mall.

Privacy Commissioner John Edwards found the agency had breached principles 3, 4, 9 and 10 of the Privacy Act.

'When people give their information to agencies, they need to be able to trust those agencies will respect that information,” says John.

'Expression Sessions misled this woman about almost everything – how long the photos would be stored, who would see them, and even why they were taking them in the first place.”

Expression Sessions has previously featured on Fair Go for using pressure sales techniques and charging thousands of dollars for photo prints.

They are currently under investigation by the Commerce Commission. A spokesperson for the Commission says they have received 23 complaints about the company since January 2015.

'The complaints cover a range of issues, including those relating to the cancellation of contracts.

'Our investigation is looking at issues relating to consumers' right to cancel the contract and whether the company's contracts comply with legal disclosure requirements, rather than privacy concerns.”

Bayfair Shopping Centre manager Steve Ellingford says the company is not a permanent retailer there.

'The last time Expressions Sessions leased space in-centre at Bayfair was approximately 18 months ago, and over the years have done so for up to two week periods at a time.

'We have never had a privacy issue complaint in the time that they have been set up in-centre.”

He says Bayfair has no plans to lease space to the company in the future.

PRIVACY ACT BREACHES

Principle 3

Principle 3 requires agencies to tell people how they will use their information (such as a photo). Expression Sessions had the woman sign a form, but the form gave no indication the photos would be used for advertising.

Unfair collection

Principle 4 prohibits agencies from collecting information in unlawful or unfair ways. Telling the woman her photos would be destroyed, then using them in advertising was unfair, as the woman would not have had the photos taken if she had known they would be used this way.

Retention and use of information

Principle 9 requires agencies to delete information when they no longer need it, and principle 10 prohibits agencies from using that information for a purpose other than that for which they collected the information.

Since Expression Sessions told the woman the photos were only for her, it should have deleted the photos when she declined to purchase them. Expression Sessions breached principle 9 by not deleting the images, and principle 10 by using the images for advertising