For most people, summertime also means vacation time. And many also want to share the vacation photos with their friends via their WhatsApp statuses or on social media like Facebook and Co.!

But how safe is it actually to share your photos via WhatsApp and Co.? During the holidays and holiday season, many people like to show where the family has gone. However, we advise you to carefully consider who you want to show your children's photos to on the Internet. Especially now during the holiday season, parents should ask themselves carefully which photos of their offspring should go on the World Wide Web.

You would like to present your pictures, especially from your vacation, to your friends and acquaintances. Parents also show their children and family activities on social media platforms, especially during the holiday season.

Please note the following:

  • Please do not post nude pictures, pictures of yourself or your children in swimsuits, swimming trunks or bikinis online.
  • Think about who can see your pictures. Check your privacy settings on all social media platforms, including WhatsApp status.
  • As a parent, think about whether you wanted to have pictures that you showed as children available to an audience of millions when you were a child.
  • Pixelation on children's faces can be reversed using free apps from app stores. Pixelation is therefore no protection for your children.
  • Pay attention to who else is in the picture. (KUG § 22 Right to your own image).
  • Only post vacation photos and the vacation period online after the vacation. Burglars are also online and can see exactly which house is empty and when.

The internet industry association “eco” has also published 5 tips on the topic of “holiday photos on the internet”.

  1. Do not share pictures in bikinis, swimming trunks or too much bare skin

In principle, the lawyer and head of the complaints office recommends not sharing photos in which children and young people are seen naked or only lightly dressed. This also includes photos in swimwear. “Of course, parents also want to keep a record of the trip to the sea or the swimming pool, but special care must always be taken when sharing,” Koch-Skiba continued. She warns that the family photos can fall into the wrong hands and be sexualized. Koch-Skiba: “Even if many parents are already taking this tip into account, a lot of educational work is still necessary.” The fact that the hashtag #kidsbeachwear, for example, contains more than 20,000 posts on the Instagram image platform speaks volumes.

  1. Cover or pixelate the faces of children and young people with smileys

But even with supposedly harmless photos, be careful. In the fight against sexual violence online, Koch-Skiba and her team also come across seemingly harmless images in which minors are fully clothed. “Even photos on the playground or at children’s birthday parties can sometimes appear in pedophile forums and be put in the wrong context,” warns Koch-Skiba. “Even if this is not the norm, parents should at least be aware that there is some risk of this happening. Anyone who covers their children's faces with a smiley, pixelates them or even just takes a photo of the back of their head will definitely be safer here.”

  1. Check security settings

Koch-Skiba also recommends only sharing photos with relatives or close friends. For this purpose, common social media platforms offer detailed security settings that go beyond the actual decision of a private or public account. “Unfortunately, the Internet is only suitable to a limited extent as a passed-on digital family album,” says Koch-Skiba. “If I want to share vacation photos in my status – that is, temporarily and for up to 24 hours – I can now decide for each individual contact whether the photos are shown to them or not.”

  1. Respect children's rights

If possible, parents should also involve their children in deciding who they want to share their photos with. “Of course, this only works if the offspring are a little older,” says Koch-Skiba. “If you introduce your children to this topic at an early age, you are also doing important educational work for their later use of social media as teenagers.” With regular workshops at schools and at parents’ evenings, prevention is also part of the eco Complaints Office’s remit.

  1. Report inappropriate photos

If you have any subsequent doubts about whether posting certain vacation pictures was really a good idea, Koch-Skiba recommends deleting your own posting. In this way, risks can at least be minimized.

If internet users discover inappropriate photos of children and young people, they can also report them to the eco complaints office , which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

Illegal content on the Internet can be reported here with just a few clicks and without providing your name or email address.

Note: In the end, every warning is just an urgent request to behave responsibly. Of course, every parent decides for themselves whether and how many children's photos they want to publish on their accounts. In the end, all that remains is the appeal to respect the privacy of the people depicted.

Item image. By AlenKadr / Shutterstock.com

 

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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )