Parents should rethink sharing children’s photos online
By age 13, children have over 1,300 photos posted online by parents, risking identity theft and privacy breaches.
Many parents enjoy posting photos of their children on social media, but warnings are growing about the risks this practice poses to children’s digital privacy. Sarah, known as @mom.uncharted, said children have over 1,300 images shared online by age 13 on average.
These seemingly innocent photos can be exploited for identity theft, facial recognition, and synthetic fraud long before children understand privacy.
A Barclays study predicts that by 2030, sharenting (parents sharing content about their children online) could account for two-thirds of identity fraud cases involving young people.
Sarah advises parents to use strict privacy settings, manage followers carefully, and avoid posting anything that could embarrass or invade their children’s privacy.
Research from Northumbria University found that 80% of children have an online presence by age two, with parents sharing an average of 1,500 images before their fifth birthday. A 2022 study found that many photos shared by parents contain sensitive data, increasing concerns about children’s digital safety.
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