Many parents often post family photos, especially photos of their children. But is that right?
With the rise of social networking sites, photos of your children can easily be taken by strangers, without your permission, for advertising. Even worse, the photos can be exploited by pornographic websites and cyberbullies.
One example is celebrity mom and blogger Heather Spohr, who contacted the police about a simple and innocent photo of her child, which she found on a website titled “indecent photos of children.” The police responded with a letter saying, “Unfortunately, innocent photos of children are very attractive to some people.”.
According to a recent American survey, 73% of children in European countries "exist" on the internet by the age of two! This includes pregnancy ultrasound photos at 33%, e-mail addresses at 7%, and everyday photos posted by parents.
However, photos aren't just posted by parents. Of the mothers surveyed, only 33% upload photos of their newborns or babies. The rest are filled by relatives and family friends who have the freedom to share photos online.
In general, a photo may be considered "innocent" by parents, but for some others it is exploitative material.
How to protect your electronic photos.
See below what you can do to protect the privacy and security of the photos you post on social media.
-Read the Privacy Policy of each social network you post photos to in the section regarding photos and their printing. Otherwise, you may inadvertently give permission to other websites or users to take your photos.
-Check the security settings of the photos. The best way to protect them is to reduce who is allowed to see them. Also, some websites have the option to keep your photos “hidden” from search engines.
-Place your own copyright under each photo, that is, an electronic signature such as a word or a logo. You can also register your trademark internationally with simple procedures through companies.
-Avoid putting details of your child under each photo, such as full names, schools or geographical locations.
Source: koutipandoras.gr
