Baby Pics on the Net: Public or Private?
Wed May 30, 2007 4:28PM EDT
See Comments (244)
A friend of mine, a new mom who is very tech savvy and comfortable socializing and sharing info on the web, recently raised a good question for young parents. Like lots of first-time parents, she put images and videos of her child with her name on the web for friends and family to see. She used Flickr and Yahoo! Video, which makes it easy to send links that people can click on and be brought immediately to a public photo or video gallery.
But when she did a search on her daughter's name, she was surprised to immediately find links to the images. It made her stop and think about how they handle their child's images on the web before she is old enough to have any say in how she is presented online. For now, she has taken the most prominent links down, and she and her husband have decided not to use their daughter's full name on anything they post in the future. Friends of theirs take an even more cautious stance: they will not put any images of their children on the web before they are old enough to say whether they want them there or not.
Either way, it's an interesting dilemma for parents who have come of age at ease with sharing images and writings about themselves on MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and other social-networking sites. But when it comes to children, parents need to weigh their kids' right to privacy with the desire to share their joy with the world.
When Richard M. Smith, an Internet security consultant based in Boston, searched on his grandson's name, he was surprised to come upon a page of Flickr photos of the baby set up by his son-in-law. "Seems like a problem," he wrote in an email message. Because Smith is concerned about safety as well as privacy, he notes that putting full names of family members online is not a good idea, especially when there are tools that allow people to search on names of adults and come up with home addresses.
If you've set up a family web site, Smith notes that you can use a ROBOTS.TXT file to tell search engines to go away so the site does not show up on search index pages.
The simpler solution, he said, is to choose web-based photo-sharing options that allow you to keep the sharing between family and friends and not in the public domain. With that in mind, here are a few ways to share in a less public way:
Privacy settings: Flickr now has a "hide your photos from public searches" feature in the "my account" section of the site. You can also change privacy settings to restrict those who view your photos to friends and/or family. If you do this, you'll need to invite some friends and family to sign up on Flickr, which may take a little explaining for some less tech-savvy family members. (Note: You can not make uploaded videos to Yahoo! Video private.)
Private photo and video sharing sharing: All the major photo web sites have sharing features, though many require the viewers to register with the sites to see the photos. Shutterfly does not, which is one of the reasons why I like it. To share videos with family members and friends, try Motionbox, which has a private setting, and One True Media, which allows you to share videos on a personal TiVo channel.
Family social networking sites: Some charge subscriptions, some are free. A few free ones worth checking out are Famoodle, FamilyRoutes, and Kincafe. For a scrapbooking approach, try Smilebox.
Those are a few ideas for sharing photos and videos of your family with the people you want to see them and not necessarily anyone who finds them on the web. If this is something you've given some thought to, too, please share in the comments below how you share images of your little ones with an eye toward privacy and safety.
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227 Posted by pitchblackbolt on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:13PM EDT Report Abuse
I completely agree and am completely against websites like www.myspace.com where people list and add way too much information and put their business out there. We have to be extremely careful not only with the information we divulge to family and friends but information that we think we are sending and posting and making available for psycho people.
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228 Posted by toodogg2 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:17PM EDT Report Abuse
well....just as there is no such thing as "safe sex"- either you fornicate,immoral,adultery or you're not - married and faithful. so, to give your family and children the best security from online preds, don't post their pics Online; share them on disc or paper in person, with family, friends ONLY. simple. extreme? to some, maybe. but the welfare of one's family, safety of self and close associates, is far worth the 'sacrifice' being a little 'behind' in technology. lost jpeg or pdf, or lost child or spouse? choose...!
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229 Posted by angiejacobs7 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:54PM EDT Report Abuse
That is awesome you did this it made me realize about putting pics of my nephew up on the net.
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230 Posted by happyfungirl729 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:16PM EDT Report Abuse
This always gets me. You put your information out on the WORLD WIDE WEB and then you're surprised that everyone can see it. How naive can you be? And the sharing functions? They are only as good as the site security. Credit card companies, merchants and other websites go to extreme measures to protect their employees and clients' information and it still gets hacked. How secure do you think picture websites are? The more information you put, the easier it is to find you or your child. I do not allow anyone to put photos of my child or information about my child out on the web. I also do not identify myself in a way that puts my child at risk. Pedophiles have and will use every available tool they can find to get to a child. And it only takes them a few minutes to ruin your child's life forever. Don't be stupid. Protect your child at all costs. The bad people are counting on the chance that you won't.
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231 Posted by jwsutton2003 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:45PM EDT Report Abuse
Easy fix is to not use the childs name when posting to a website or when saving the filenames. Those are what the search engines use when they look for hits to display. So if you sent an email to your friends you can just inform them in the email who it is in the pictures without saving the file with the childs name or naming the link the childs name. Odds are with all the crap out there the pictures would never come up if you don't use names or descriptive information about the child.
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232 Posted by jwsutton2003 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:45PM EDT Report Abuse
Furthermore, have you ever let your child be photographed for the local newspaper? Whats the difference between that or putting them up on the web? None in my opinion as the newspaper more than likely posts their content to the web anyway.
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233 Posted by samantharae319 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:01PM EDT Report Abuse
I really think people are paranoid. I'm much more concerned about my neighbors and acquaintances that have a greater motive to harm and people that can actually follow me home, rather than some stranger 1000 miles away checking me or my family out on the internet.
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234 Posted by theprincesstinkerbell on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:04PM EDT Report Abuse
I am a female that lives alone and whenever I sign up for anything on the internet, whether it's a known and trusted company or not, I never use my real name. Except with accounts and such that have security measures in place. If you are doing anything on the internet, whether for yourself or children, you should use a fake name. Mine is just a random combination of letters that I can remember easily. That way, nobody can ever track me down. You could just let the family and friends know the child's fake name. Use a nickname as the first name and your pet's name as the last name if you want it easy to remember.
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235 Posted by yippee333 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:56PM EDT Report Abuse
I am a very longtime single mom and just found out my ex posted pictures on his very public place-of-employment website of our daughter, with info of exactly where she is working on an advanced degree. She is attractive, and he could be endangering her ~ and he also boasts of a long former career in info technology ~ working in a child-related environment! I left him when she was 2 because of constant verbal abuse ~ he is extremely arrogant and no one can tell him how unsafe this is. Since I raised her virtually alone, and he rarely saw her, the fact that he takes public credit for her accomplishments [especially when she started begging me to eliminate her summer visits to him when she was around eleven, which I could only shorten] makes me angry. And, he is a deadbeat dad!!! His child support contribution was set at 75.00/mo. when he was briefly out of work, and he maintained such a threatening, bullying demeanor from afar, I chose peace at all costs and did nothing when he rarely paid. Any advice?
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236 Posted by percyspantry on Sun Jun 10, 2007 8:14PM EDT Report Abuse
Let's be realistic people... the technological revolution is in its infancy and these issues are pedantic... I'm all for safety and security, etc. but in my opinion please feel free to share pictures of your loved ones on-line... odds are there is already information about them out there anyway.
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237 Posted by momoftwo_2007 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:25PM EDT Report Abuse
I think everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If posting pictures is beyond your comfort level it is OK. We have two little ones and have family who live in another State. Being able to share pictures and short movies with family who do not live close enough to come and visit is very important to us. There are several services out there that let you create a profile/site to share with friends and family with site passwords etc... (totsites.com and babyjellybeans.com for instance). Most offer additional "security tools" to help protect your privacy *if* you enable them. I think the important thing to remember is common sense... While we think it's great to post pictures and a growth chart for our new little one, we don't put our address or phone number on the site. The site *is* password protected but adding the phone was just beyond my comfort level =). In the end it all comes down to personal comfort level. We have had our first child’s pictures online now for 2 years and when you type in her name into a search engine nothing comes up. We only give out the link to our personal friends and family and do *not* post it in public forums. I think that is the difference…
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238 Posted by eggmanfestival on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:52PM EDT Report Abuse
The World Famous Eggman Cape Town South Africa Eggman Cape Town South Africa Email: eggmanfestival@gmail.com Cellphone: 0781411185 Website: www.eggman.blog.com Egg On His Face But He's Happy Gregory da silva, A Symbol of African Unity Who is that Guy with all the Eggs on his head that you see at all the bestest Festivals in South Africa ? His name is gregory da Silva - An Artist Comedian, Storyteller, dancer from Benin West Africa. Gregory da Silva ( Egg Man ) was born in Benin West Africa, Voodoo Country. He speaks French and English and is staying in Cape Town South Africa. Gregory da silva has appeared at many Festivals in Africa and is presently staying in Cape Town South Africa. Gregory has appeared at many Festivals in Africa : The Masa Festival 2003 (market for African Performing Arts) in Ivory Coast West Africa, The grahamstown Festival South African National Art Festival, The Hermanus Whales festival, The Darling festival, The Gariep Kimberley Festival, Innibos Film Festival Nelspruit Mpumanlanga, Moorresberg farm Shows, The Biltong Castle Larger Festival in Somerset East South africa, The Stellenbosch Street Festival, The Simonstown Penguin Festival South Africa. He performs every day in Market square Cape Town and adds an air of rio - style festivity wherever he performs. Many Tourists from Germany, England, America, Italy, France, Belguim call Gregory : The Egg man, or Chicken Man. Very famous in Africa. AFRICAN EXTRAVAGANZA: The National Arts Festival had its usual colourful start in Grahamstown South Africa. Here Gregory da Silva from Benin, West Africa, wears headgear adorned with African artifacts. Gregory da Silva has becomes an Institution at the National Art festival Grahamstown. A Symbol of African Unity In the first heady years of the African Union, the world's eyes are increasingly turned to the continent from which humankind first appeared. Beneath the seemingly impenetrable mask of violence portrayed in popular media, lies a living and thriving cultural climate which Des Warde finds well depicted by West African street artist Gregory Da Silva. The outfit always turns heads, and each day it boasts a new feature, a new symbol of an African culture or practice. His headdress weighs up to twenty five kilograms, his body is armoured with artifacts and his face painted with tribal patterns and an undying smile. Each day, Gregory Da Silva presents the city centre with a new display of his symbolic art. Gregory's voice is lively and he repeatedly offers phrases and words in French. Born in Benin, West Africa, 1979, he was trained in computer science at university, but went on to found a theatre group in Benin called 'Voice of Spirit' or 'Voix de l'Esprit' which performed politically motivated as well as comic and poetic theatre at the Benin National Library. After receiving an invitation to perform at the MASA - Market for African Performing Arts - Festival in the Ivory Coast in 2003, where he represented his country, Benin, for a week before flying to South Africa. He sold his creations at the V&A Waterfront and began to grace the streets of Cape Town with his unique form of art. It was so unique it initially led the bemused Cape Town police to put him in the back of their car and call their superiors for advice! Naturally they were advised them to let him go and Gregory now enjoys a good relationship with the city authorities... My attention is soon turned to his artifact-laden tunic which Gregory says is about "all African tradition, all African culture[s]" and he goes on to explain some of the more prominent objects displayed. "Everything must be life, everything must shine, and be positive" First, he points out the clusters of sea shells hanging around his neck, saying that in Africa these shells were "old money" and once used as currency. He explains the eggs on his head dress as being symbolic of life and says "everything must be life, everything must shine, [and] be positive". Next his hands grab the arcane black bottle near his waist to explain that in his culture, the Sangoma people would place "good spirits" in a bottle, with which they would "heal sick people [they] passed while walking on the roads". The broken shards of mirror found on his chest bear similar spiritual significance, and are often worn by Voodoo people in Africa and are said to be a kind of window into the spiritual world, and a "way to talk to [their] ancestor[s]". Gregory says his main inspiration or motivation is to "make people laugh" and "make people happy" and to represent different African cultures. He says he always thinks "how we can put all of Africa together to make [it] one", adding that "not one country can be forgotten". When he is travelling in Africa, be it in Senegal, Cameroon, Mali or the Congo, the local people invariably look at him and say "ahh, that is our culture" as they see something of their own represented. "All Africa is in my clothes" he says, drawing attention again to his peerless suit. When not walking St. Georges Mall or Green Market Square, Gregory features at the Grahamstown festival, the Hermanus Whale Festival, has been hired to receive guests at hotels and airports, and has also appeared on SABC 2 and E-TV News. He is very popular with tourists, especially those from Italy, England, America and Germany, who frequently ask why he does not come over and do his thing in their own country. But he says his focus is on Africa. Pictures of him certainly do get back to their countries though, as Gregory says everyday "hundreds" of pictures are taken of himself, usually posing with the tourists. Asked about his dreams and ambitions, Gregory (or the "Egg Man" or "Ei man" as he is also known) says that this year he is planning on starting an art school, which is part of his 'Project For Africa' for this year. He wants to impart creative knowledge to South African youth, giving them the power to create beautiful things and also to support themselves, all part of his ultimate venerable ambition to "[bring] Africa together to make one". Indeed, and good luck to him.
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239 Posted by eggmanfestival on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:52PM EDT Report Abuse
The World Famous Eggman Cape Town South Africa Eggman Cape Town South Africa Email: eggmanfestival@gmail.com Cellphone: 0781411185 Website: www.eggman.blog.com Egg On His Face But He's Happy Gregory da silva, A Symbol of African Unity Who is that Guy with all the Eggs on his head that you see at all the bestest Festivals in South Africa ? His name is gregory da Silva - An Artist Comedian, Storyteller, dancer from Benin West Africa. Gregory da Silva ( Egg Man ) was born in Benin West Africa, Voodoo Country. He speaks French and English and is staying in Cape Town South Africa. Gregory da silva has appeared at many Festivals in Africa and is presently staying in Cape Town South Africa. Gregory has appeared at many Festivals in Africa : The Masa Festival 2003 (market for African Performing Arts) in Ivory Coast West Africa, The grahamstown Festival South African National Art Festival, The Hermanus Whales festival, The Darling festival, The Gariep Kimberley Festival, Innibos Film Festival Nelspruit Mpumanlanga, Moorresberg farm Shows, The Biltong Castle Larger Festival in Somerset East South africa, The Stellenbosch Street Festival, The Simonstown Penguin Festival South Africa. He performs every day in Market square Cape Town and adds an air of rio - style festivity wherever he performs. Many Tourists from Germany, England, America, Italy, France, Belguim call Gregory : The Egg man, or Chicken Man. Very famous in Africa. AFRICAN EXTRAVAGANZA: The National Arts Festival had its usual colourful start in Grahamstown South Africa. Here Gregory da Silva from Benin, West Africa, wears headgear adorned with African artifacts. Gregory da Silva has becomes an Institution at the National Art festival Grahamstown. A Symbol of African Unity In the first heady years of the African Union, the world's eyes are increasingly turned to the continent from which humankind first appeared. Beneath the seemingly impenetrable mask of violence portrayed in popular media, lies a living and thriving cultural climate which Des Warde finds well depicted by West African street artist Gregory Da Silva. The outfit always turns heads, and each day it boasts a new feature, a new symbol of an African culture or practice. His headdress weighs up to twenty five kilograms, his body is armoured with artifacts and his face painted with tribal patterns and an undying smile. Each day, Gregory Da Silva presents the city centre with a new display of his symbolic art. Gregory's voice is lively and he repeatedly offers phrases and words in French. Born in Benin, West Africa, 1979, he was trained in computer science at university, but went on to found a theatre group in Benin called 'Voice of Spirit' or 'Voix de l'Esprit' which performed politically motivated as well as comic and poetic theatre at the Benin National Library. After receiving an invitation to perform at the MASA - Market for African Performing Arts - Festival in the Ivory Coast in 2003, where he represented his country, Benin, for a week before flying to South Africa. He sold his creations at the V&A Waterfront and began to grace the streets of Cape Town with his unique form of art. It was so unique it initially led the bemused Cape Town police to put him in the back of their car and call their superiors for advice! Naturally they were advised them to let him go and Gregory now enjoys a good relationship with the city authorities... My attention is soon turned to his artifact-laden tunic which Gregory says is about "all African tradition, all African culture[s]" and he goes on to explain some of the more prominent objects displayed. "Everything must be life, everything must shine, and be positive" First, he points out the clusters of sea shells hanging around his neck, saying that in Africa these shells were "old money" and once used as currency. He explains the eggs on his head dress as being symbolic of life and says "everything must be life, everything must shine, [and] be positive". Next his hands grab the arcane black bottle near his waist to explain that in his culture, the Sangoma people would place "good spirits" in a bottle, with which they would "heal sick people [they] passed while walking on the roads". The broken shards of mirror found on his chest bear similar spiritual significance, and are often worn by Voodoo people in Africa and are said to be a kind of window into the spiritual world, and a "way to talk to [their] ancestor[s]". Gregory says his main inspiration or motivation is to "make people laugh" and "make people happy" and to represent different African cultures. He says he always thinks "how we can put all of Africa together to make [it] one", adding that "not one country can be forgotten". When he is travelling in Africa, be it in Senegal, Cameroon, Mali or the Congo, the local people invariably look at him and say "ahh, that is our culture" as they see something of their own represented. "All Africa is in my clothes" he says, drawing attention again to his peerless suit. When not walking St. Georges Mall or Green Market Square, Gregory features at the Grahamstown festival, the Hermanus Whale Festival, has been hired to receive guests at hotels and airports, and has also appeared on SABC 2 and E-TV News. He is very popular with tourists, especially those from Italy, England, America and Germany, who frequently ask why he does not come over and do his thing in their own country. But he says his focus is on Africa. Pictures of him certainly do get back to their countries though, as Gregory says everyday "hundreds" of pictures are taken of himself, usually posing with the tourists. Asked about his dreams and ambitions, Gregory (or the "Egg Man" or "Ei man" as he is also known) says that this year he is planning on starting an art school, which is part of his 'Project For Africa' for this year. He wants to impart creative knowledge to South African youth, giving them the power to create beautiful things and also to support themselves, all part of his ultimate venerable ambition to "[bring] Africa together to make one". Indeed, and good luck to him.
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240 Posted by ktstetson on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:54PM EDT Report Abuse
We use Pixamo, because of the tagging, but also because of the privacy settings and huge free storage limits. We share a lot of photos and videos with family and friends all over the place. E-mail just got to be too unwieldy and other services didn’t offer the privacy options we needed (We didn’t want our co-workers to see the same photos as my aunts, uncles and cousins, or my aunts uncles and cousins to see the same photos as my parents). I really like that Pixamo lets you create different contact groups and control who sees what on a photo by photo basis. When I first read about this when signing up, it sounded too much like what I was looking for; I thought it was too good to be true. So I emailed them for further details. The Pixamo team confirmed it was what I was looking for, and then even assured me that these tags and images wouldn’t come up in a Google search. Privacy at its best in my opinion.
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241 Posted by onfire4jesus2010 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:45PM EDT Report Abuse
Hey well me as a first time mom would not want my little babys full name up on the web and i think Flickr is a great way to communicate between families and friends so that no one really can find out where you live or what you do.
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242 Posted by mache471 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:02PM EDT Report Abuse
never put your real name on the web..thats it
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243 Posted by jmbmoi on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:37PM EDT Report Abuse
Don't join ourcutebabies EVER! They make you pay money to join and they claim that is so they can verify you! LMAO!!!! Um you cant verify someone by them just paying money on paypal! It's just a way for them to get money and make moms think they are safe! Noone is ever 100 percent safe on the internet so avoid joining websites that ask you for money adn make you think you are safe!~ They arent driving to your house to see you are who you say you are! LMAO!!!! Noone can claim they have verified anyone unless they are actually meeting the person!!!
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244 Posted by phototravelus on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:10PM EDT Report Abuse
Unless the site you post the picture on has copy protection on it, where it can not be shared, your picture can be copied and pasted to use in a scam. more than one time, I have been asked to send money before to someone online by a suspected scammer on a singles site. I never send money to anyone I do not know. Online, the photo may be used to pose as someone else and they may use a fake profile. Beware of how your photo(s) may be shared by other people even by "friends" or family members that share them. Once it is out of your protection it is available to others to use legal or not they do and will. I removed my picture from a site for that reason.
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226 Posted by elsedale on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:53PM EDT Report Abuse
This has happened to my family. There is an individual who has posted pics of my daughter in a bikini on her myspace page. This individual has posted the address and phone number of where the picture was taken. I have requested several times to have the picture removed. The next step is going to be the legal route. All those individuals out there screaming paranoia, get a clue!!! It happens. Look up the case about the guy who just moved out of an area in Washington state who was putting pictures of minors up and telling other creeps like him where they could see these children. I will protect my child. My child deserves to be protected. Oh yeah by the way the mother doesnt really care that the pictures are up. If you are male and plan on getting divorced move to a state where the male actually has a chance. I guess that is a whole other blog.