The BASEF Media Release (part of the Consent Form that each student needs to complete) is Mandatory.

BASEF is a regional, public science competition. It is not run by school boards or post-secondary institutions. BASEF has its own structure and organizing committee, it is volunteer run, and it is a registered Canadian Charity. As a student competition it is similar to athletic sporting events and other regional and national competitions – participant names and results are public information and are published and covered by local and national media outlets. Our Award Show is open to the public and we encourage media and sponsors to share the successes of BASEF students, just as they would with high level sporting event. Information that is published regarding each participant includes their full name, school, grade, project title, project description, city, photograph, awards won if any, and sometimes video clips. It is not possible to participate at BASEF, or the National and International Fairs, without signing a Media Release and agreement with this policy.

If a student or parent does want their information published then their only recourse is to not take part, in the same way that it would not be possible to participate in a sporting competition or other high profile competitive event without permitting your results to be published.

We do understand that there may be special or changing circumstances that may result in past participants asking to have their information removed from our archived results. Participation is a matter of historical record and we are not able to remove names or project information. Names, project titles, project descriptions, and school affiliation are also published in fair programs, results summaries, and often published by newspapers and other press. If a past participant (more than 12 months after participation) requests removal of their student picture from our “Virtual Fair” online project browser and Flickr Archive, we will make best attempt to accommodate this request. However, those requesting this should note that their picture will still remain in places such as our Award Show Videos, media and press coverage such as the Hamilton Spectator newspaper, in school and school board coverage, in social media archives, and in cached internet archives. Students that have won awards may have had their information and pictures distributed even more widely to celebrate their successes. Picture removal from our Virtual Fair browser may take a few weeks to process.