Is it safe to post kids pics on Facebook?

Since the emergence of Facebook and other social networking sites, parents and experts have been arguing over whether children's pics are safe online.I personally choose not to post pictures of my children on the Internet let alone Facebook. I'm probably being overdramatic but there are some hidden dangers when posting your childrens pictures on any social networking site. I'm concerned about pedophiles,kidnappers and someone using their photo without my permission. People usually post detail information about their lives and their children such as birth dates, where they live and full names etc. That's a lot of valuable information to a criminal. In fact, now days someone can find you through your geotag. Geotagging is marking a picture, video or other media with your location and date and time. Your geotag will give anyone that is looking all the information they need to find you. Every smart phone has GPS built into it so be careful when posting pics taken with your phone.

There are more realistic dangers parents don't usually consider when posting family pics. People including pedophiles can easily find your pics and use them for their own purposes. Sometimes it can be as harmless as a business using your picture in an advertisement but other times it can be much worse.

If you feel uncomfortable about posting your children's pictures online you can make sure your profile and pics aren't public on social networking sites and/or add a digital watermark to your photo.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/fashion/25facebook.html?pagewanted=all


http://familyinternet.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=familyinternet&cdn=parenting&tm=76&gps=527_249_1162_414&f=00&su=p284.13.342.ip_&tt=2&bt=1&bts=1&st=11&zu=http%3A//www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/11/earlyshow/main5080197.shtml



http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/11/03/geo-tagging-the-dangers-of-posting-pictures-online/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geotagging

http://webtrends.about.com/od/glossary/a/what-geotagging.htm