This is one more reason you shouldn’t post your child’s photo online where everyone can see them.
When Jenni Brennan posted photos of her cute seven month old son on her personal blog, I bet she never dreamed that someone would use them in an online scam.
Jenni found her son’s picture on Craigslist as part of what appears to be an adoption scam.
Jenn has since set her blog to private viewing.
The full article can be found at “Mass. mother finds own child advertised for adoption.”
While things like this may not happen everyday, it does happen.
Bloggingmommies knew a mother that posted pictures of her twins on her blog, only to find out that someone else had posted her photos on another blog.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reminds us that “Once an image is posted anywhere on the Internet (even on a profile with private settings), it may never be completely erased from the Internet, even if it is deleted.”
Kimberely Isbell, at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University reminds us to “Only post low-resolutions pictures, which do not enlarge well, or include a digital watermark on our photos.”
(How to safely post pictures of your children online.)
What are your thoughts regarding posting photos of your children online?
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4 responses so far ↓
Wrote: Aug 2, 2009 at 7:58 pm
One of my great fears, being quite a bit older than my daughter, is being mistaken for someone NOT my daughter’s father. There is a LOT of paranoia (some of it justified) about creepy old men and young children. A (male) columnist for the Wall Street Journal has written about how men alone with their own small children raise a red flag with some people, esp. women. The pictures (and the narrative) in my blog I suppose I use as some sort of insurance policy.
“Hey, go to my blog the 26th of last month, if you don’t believe me – AND her!”
Wrote: Aug 3, 2009 at 1:31 am
The only time I ever posted a picture of my girls online was on a family website in a section that required a password to access. We did this because we have several family members that live across the country who are unable to see the girls on a regular basis. I don’t even post their names anyplace other than the family website. I’ve heard of too many children being abducted or stalked not to be paranoid!
Wrote: Aug 6, 2009 at 10:40 am
Good post, Rose.
I never gave it much thought. My sons post photos of their kids on their myspace sites. I guess I need to tell them not to.
Wrote: Aug 9, 2009 at 12:39 am
I saw this on the news and I just could not believe that someone would do this. I guess people are really disparate now. It is just awful what some people will do for money. I can’t even imagine what the mother went through when she saw this ad. I was thinking of posting my children and my grandchildren’s pictures but not now.
Love and Blessings,
AngelBaby