As COVID-19 causes families to stay at home, work remotely, and abstain from social gatherings, many people are starting to miss friends and family. One of the best ways to stay in touch with loved ones is by sharing photos on social media, but is it safe to post pictures of your child online? Posting pictures of your little one online is somewhat safe only if you take steps to ensure privacy. However, many people do not consider their privacy settings before they hit the share button. Here some information for safely post
Safely Posting Photos of Your Child Online
Studies have revealed that 74 percent of parents consistently post photos of their children online, especially infants. However, every social media platform boasts its own safety and privacy settings. If you do not stay up to date on the settings, then there is a chance that you might inadvertently post a photo of your child publicly for a stranger to see. In some cases, you could even share the picture with people who you had not intended on sharing it with.
Potential Dangers of Posting Your Child’s Photo on Social Media
Below are a few dangers that you might want to consider before you decide on whether you should post your child’s photo on social media. A safely post will make you feel confident and secure.
Photo Content and Location
It is easy to snap the perfect picture of your child and only see your beautiful angel, but you must remain vigilant about the background in the picture. Does it show a park that you frequent? Can you see a street sign in the snapshot? All these things can pinpoint a location where your child frequents. If a stranger does get a hold of the photo, then they might notice such location clues and figure out where to find your child. This is especially true for sexual predators who often look for these signs if they become obsessed with your little one.
Cyberbullying
Your child might appear darling in a photo to you, but it could be a source of embarrassment for your child. If their friends, see the picture then they might face cyberbullying or even real-life bullying at school when their peers use the photo to make fun of them. If your child is embarrassed by a photo, then you should abstain from posting the image. You do not want your kid to feel intimidated or humiliated.
Identity Theft
Sharing your child’s photo via social media is not without the potential risk of identity theft. Often sexual predators will download photos of children and modify the images to fit their nefarious fantasies. In other situations, someone might claim that your child is their child for a scam or as a player in some delusion. Also, others may steal your child’s photo to use it in an advertising campaign.
Posting innocent pictures of your little one online is not without dangers and risks. Every parent must take the time to determine if it is safe to post photos of their child online or not. Also, please remember that even if you post a photo and then later decide to delete it then that does not mean that the photo is gone forever. Someone could have easily copied or downloaded the image for later use.
If you are worried about the privacy settings not only on your social media accounts but your computer then please contact TickTockTech to learn more about how to keep your computer secure and safely post photos of your child online.
