This is a way of thinking about photographs of people, not legal advice. Laws on images, privacy and consent differ from country to country and change over time. If a lot depends on it, ask someone qualified where you are.
Ask, and keep the answer
If a person is identifiable in a picture you will use to promote your business, ask them first, and say where it will appear. A written message is enough for most small accounts. Keep it, so that you can show later what was agreed.
Take extra care with
- Children. Ask a parent or guardian, and think hard about whether the picture is necessary at all.
- Anyone in a vulnerable situation, such as people photographed at a clinic, a shelter or a time of crisis.
- Anything that reveals where somebody lives, works or goes to school.
At events
At a public event, put up a notice saying that photographs are being taken and where they may be shown, and offer a simple way to opt out. Wide pictures of a crowd are very different from a close portrait of one person. Ask before you publish the second kind.
If someone asks you to take it down
Do it quickly and without argument, and tell them when it is done. Remember that a post you have scheduled is still waiting to go out, so check the queue as well as the profile.
Staff photographs
Employees should agree to appear in your posts, and they may change their minds, particularly if they leave. Make it clear that they can ask to be left out, and do not make a photograph a condition of the job.
If you would not be comfortable showing the picture to the person in it before you post it, do not post it.