What are the ethics of collecting video testimonials?

Consent – People always ask, “do we need to have people to sign a video release form?”

My answer is pretty simple – if you record someone and one day they decide that they don’t want their face associated with your brand or for privacy reasons, they don’t want to be on your youtube channel or website, then remove them. Why would you want to hold a piece of legal paperwork that says-Hey you signed this so I can keep using it! Come on, man, we are all human, give people what they want, they sure gave you what you wanted. Take the video down and thank them for what they did.

At share.one the first thing we do before we record is ask them if they give us consent to use the recording for marketing purposes. We have it on video that they consent. If any legal action came about without them asking us to remove it, we have proof that we are acting on agreed terms. Promptly removing the videos can prevent big transfers of money from your account to the lawyers wallets.

Privacy – The only thing I want you to be hyper aware of is when minors are involved. We have had plenty of clients that cater to children – ADHD practitioners for example. Kids don’t always know what is right for them especially when it comes to public image and videos floating around the world. Can this affect their college application? Who knows. This is a situation where even if you have consent, you should periodically be proactive and check in with the parents especially if you are the decision maker on hosting these videos.