Why You Shouldn’t Use Pictures of Your Kids in your Blog/Website
Paul | May 29, 2008I’ve seen this asked a few times in forums, and I just want to point out two really good reasons why not to put your kids pictures up on the internet.
First is the case of 16-year-old Alison Chang. Her church counselor put a picture of her at a church car wash up on Flickr. Alison was holding a cell phone and making the ‘peace’ sign with her other hand. Virgin Mobile used the picture of Alison in a multi-million dollar ad campaign overseas… and didn’t pay Alison a dime or get her consent. Alison’s mother is now suing Virgin Mobile.
Secondly is the potentially tragic case of Christopher Mineo Jr. - if in fact he ever existed. Well, to be more specific the story about his abduction might be false, but some mother’s child’s picture has been plastered all over the web and forwarded via email over and over again. On Truthorfiction.com, investigators heard a rumor that the email and photo might be part of a domestic dispute - for example, one spouse put up a picture of their child on the internet and claimed he had been kidnapped, so the spouse with custody would be hounded by the general public.
Regardless of what really is going on with the boy who emails refer to as Christopher Mineo Jr., the story points out another malicious use of your children’s pictures. What’s to stop complete strangers from using YOUR photos to claim that your children are actually theirs?
I won’t use my kids’ pictures unless they’ve been published publicly somewhere where I can go back if someone were to challenge me over custody of my kids (bizarre as it sounds). Also, if sharing photo albums on Flickr, I make them private so I know who has access.
