As some of you already know, I don't place any images of my daughter on social media. I'm the minority. I'm the outcast. I'm the weird over-protective mother. I've got to say I was surprised to be the one outnumbered. For me, however, it is a way I can protect my child's privacy, something I am fiercely passionate about.
I see people taking photos of their child at Rhyme Time; a 1/2hr session held at the local libraries where we all sit our babies down and sing nursery rhymes. I have been taking Isla since she was quite little, and she LOVES it! If you're a parent and you don't know what this is, get onto it quick smart!
Anyway... Parents watch their little darlings clapping along and of course want to capture a shot of the moment, which may inadvertently include my daughter. What do I do? I don't want some random stranger with an image of my child, so I cover her face.
How is this any different to uploading a picture of my child onto Facebook? Yes I have super-tight privacy settings, but the thing that scares me is anyone who sees an image can save it to their camera roll. What they then do is out of my control. Next time they sync their phone to their computer it ends up in their photo library, then say they get a virus and all their images are copied? Then who has that innocent picture?
I am not naive enough to think Facebook is a safe environment, regardless of the security controls you can select. The fact is, once you upload an image to Facebook they OWN your image. They could do whatever they want with it. Someone somewhere in Facebook Head Office could be scrolling through (don't think they can't) and think "Hey, that's pretty cute. We could absolutely sell that image to a marketing company" or worse. At the end of the day, these social media outlets are businesses, and how they generate an income surely cannot solely be from those annoying banner ads running down the side of your page (especially when more and more people are accessing social media via handheld devices).
If you think I'm being excessive, consider this; Facebook is currently being sued for intercepting private messages "In an effort to learn the content of the user's communication". In the past 2 years, Facebook has paid over $US30 million to settle law suits relating to privacy. as reported by the ABC.
I read an article last week about the ever-increasing movement to protect the rights of children, particularly on the social media stage;
In 2013, Australia’s first National Children’s Commissioner was appointed at the Australian Human Rights Commission to ensure that children’s voices are heard when “decisions are made about the issues that affect their lives”. Today, the commission launches its Children’s Rights Report, the first of its kind in Australia.
You can read the entire article here
Don't think I'm not tempted. Of course I have the most beautiful baby girl who has ever entered this world, and I would love nothing more than to bombard everyone with adorable images of her. I have literally thousands to chose from; I have worked out in just over 9 months I have taken an average of 17 photos a day of her. I carry them on my phone and will show anyone who even has the slightest interest. However, It is the decision my husband and I have made to protect her, and a decision I am confident in.
As I said, I know I'm the exception to the norm, and what other people do is their prerogative. I'm not here to be all judgey. However, I find it interesting how it is a conversation which has been somewhat unspoken, just think about it. Perhaps putting a naked image of your child on the internet isn't a great idea...
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