The Dangers of "Sharenting": Protecting Your Child's Privacy on Social Media
I think we can all agree that we live in an era where people feel the need to share details of their daily lives with as many people as possible. From the biggest milestones to what was eaten for lunch that day, social media has become an open journal of daily life. But let us consider when that journaling includes our children, often before they can consent. This is something known as “Sharenting” and is something that has continued to be on the rise over the years. It causes privacy and safety concerns that parents need to be aware of for the long-term impact it could have on their children.
What is Sharenting?
Sharenting refers to parents who overshare information about their own children on social media. This can include photos and videos ranging from cute baby pictures to detailed accounts of their child's achievements, struggles, and daily comings and goings.
This is often done with the best intentions, but the consequences are often far-reaching, and many parents probably don’t even consider them.
So, I will break down some of the risks that I believe parents need to consider when they upload pictures, videos, or information about their children to any social media platform.
The Safety Risks:
Sexual Predators: Tagging your children in photos or updates can make them vulnerable to being targeted and groomed by online predators, especially if you are not following my best practice guidelines for locking down that platform.
Location Tracking: Sharing information about where you or your children are in real-time could put them at risk of being followed.
Cyberbullying: Sharing media or information that could be considered embarrassing to your child might open them up to being a target for cyberbullying and online harassment.
Privacy Risks:
Facial Recognition: This technology is becoming more sophisticated, and images shared online could, in the future, lead to your child being tracked or identified without their knowledge.
Digital Footprint: Every piece of information, photo or video will be online forever and follow them for life. It will be accessible to anybody, including future prospective employers.
Identity Theft: Threat actors can use information shared online to create fake accounts or identities that can be used to commit crimes.
The Long-Term Impact:
Emotional Distress: Parents might think the photos or information they share is “Cute” or “Fun” but your child could think very differently and suffer distress or damage to their self-esteem. Remember my advice about having open and honest communication, as that will help avoid this.
Consent and Independence: Sharenting takes away a child's right to control their own narrative; they could suffer embarrassment or feel violated when information is shared without their consent.
Future Opportunities: This relates to what children share but is just as important as what parents share. Remember that data shared online could negatively impact future education applications, relationships or employment opportunities.
What Can Parents Do?
Review Privacy Settings: Check out some of my other posts for advice. I always suggest that all social media profiles be locked down to give you as much control over who can see your posts. Do remember, though, that won't stop people stop people who do have access from doing what they want with that information.
Minimise Sharing: As a parent about to hit the post button, consider “Would I want this posted about myself?”
Consent: Having open communication with your children has many benefits, one of which is that chatting about what they are comfortable with you posting will be much easier.
Consider Their Future: Think about how what you post may impact their future.
ALWAYS remember, once you post it, it’s online and very hard to remove in some circumstances.
It never fails to surprise me how many social media profiles I have seen over the years where parents post pictures of their children in swimwear or even naked, with no restrictions on their profiles, and it is open to anybody to view. This is the sort of material that sexual predators consider as low-hanging fruit.
This alone is always concerning to me, but in this day and age, even what you might consider “Normal” photos can now be “Nudified” Apps and technology are utilising Artificial Intelligence to create deepfake Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).
You do not want to be the reason that there is CSAM of your child being distributed across the world by the depraved and evil bastards that inhabit the dark corners of the internet. I have seen first-hand the results of their depravity, and we need to end their ability to do so.
As always, please comment, share or reach out if you have questions.