While most youth can think for themselves and decide whether or not they want their photos uploaded on social media, children and toddlers can’t. Their mothers and fathers do it for them without so much as thinking about its precautions.
No one can really blame them; they simply want to share to the world how proud they are of their little gems.
But not only is this practice often overlooked; it’s potentially dangerous. Any information shared online can be stolen and used to exploit innocent people, most of them the children themselves.
The good news is that France is spearheading a new movement to discourage parents from this common practice.
READ: Why kids need to learn how to be smarter than the internet
A first of its kind, a new law in France allows children to sue their their parents for breach of privacy.
“In a few years, children could easily take their parents to court for publishing photos of them when they were younger,” said Law and Ethics expert Eric Del Croix in a report by Le Figaro News. “Children at certain stages do not wish to be photographed or still less for those photos to be public.”
Should the parents be found guilty, not only can they face fines of up to $39,000, they can also serve jail time.
As for the injured party, they can be compensated for having their photographs posted when they were children.
READ: Monitor Your Kids Internet Usage
The saddest thing about it is that most parents put their child’s safety on the line simple because they find that sharing sensitive information about their children trendy.
“In a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, it was revealed that 74 percent of people who said they put up pictures of their kids did it more so to ‘do what everyone else was doing’ despite having concerns about internet safety,” said a Mamamia report.
Not only that. The study also revealed that 51 percent uploaded these pictures with identifying information and easily traceable locations.
This law may not be in effect anywhere else in the world, but parents should think of this as a warning and spur them into action or, in the case of uploading photos of their children online, inaction.
Parents, if you’re sharing you children’s information online, say date and place of birth or the tiniest minute details other people have no business of knowing, maybe it’s time you consider whether or not it’s worth it.
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