Social media: Be vigilant about your child’s digital footprint

What is a digital footprint?

Most Canadian toddlers age 2 and under already have a social media presence thanks to the posts, photos, and videos that their parents share about them. The fact is that many parents share their children’s milestone moments online.

In doing so, they’re creating a digital footprint for their children from a very young age. A digital footprint is all the information that’s posted about someone online (e.g., their name, date of birth, photos). This personal information can then be viewed and used by many people, including people with bad intentions. In short, having a digital footprint carries certain risks.

The arrival of artificial intelligence has only heightened these risks, as explained in an awareness campaign launched in July 2023 and featured in this article: Images of children online: A hard-hitting campaign for parents is launched (link in French).

How can you protect your child on social media?

You can start by changing the privacy settings on your social media accounts. For example, make sure your accounts and posts are private. Even so, know that once your images are posted, you no longer have control over them, regardless of the privacy settings you’ve set. A malicious person could, for example, take a screenshot of a photo of your child.

Try to limit posts about your little one, and think twice before posting anything. For example: Could someone use this photo to identify your child? Could it make your child feel uncomfortable or cause them harm in the future?

If you still want to share a photo, consider blurring your child’s face or using emojis to cover it up. Here’s how to hide a face on an iPhone or Android phone (links in French).

Ask your friends and loved ones not to share photos of your child without your consent and to respect your decision.

Don’t share posts showing your child in certain situations

It’s best to avoid posting photos of your child in an embarrassing situation (e.g., in the middle of a tantrum). Never post nude or partially nude pictures of your child (e.g., photos of them in the bathtub or on the potty).

These kinds of posts expose your child to specific risks:

• Invasion of privacy. When you decide on behalf of your child to make details about their life or personality public, you’re creating a virtual identity for them that they might not be comfortable with later on.
• Bullying. Bullies might use these images later to create memes or videos that make fun of your child.
• Child pornography. Photos and videos of your child on social media could be used for pornographic purposes, even if they don’t contain nudity. Some websites use photos of children in everyday situations and add comments to give them a sexual connotation. Furthermore, artificial intelligence is making it easier for sexual predators to carry out their crimes. For example, new techniques make it possible to manipulate images of children. For more information: Child pornography is entering a new era (link in French).

Avoid posting important information about your child

Some examples of important information are your child’s name, date of birth, address, name of their pet, favourite TV shows, and any health issues they’ve had. If you really want to talk about an event, wait a few days before posting and leave out identifying details. For example, you could post a photo from your son’s birthday party with the caption: “It was my son’s birthday this week!”

These types of posts come with specific risks, including the following:

• Use by businesses. Companies could use this information to create a profile of your child and later use it to send your child ads, refuse life insurance coverage, or reject them for a job.
• Fraud and identity theft. Fraudsters may obtain information that can be used to verify your child’s identity (date of birth, mother’s last name) or to answer security questions, such as the name of their first pet or elementary school. This information could eventually be used to apply for loans and credit cards under their name.

Keep in mind that even if you decide to delete some of your posts to protect your child, they may have been saved or shared by others. That means your posts could still exist in other locations.

Things to keep in mind

• When you post photos and videos of your child, you may be sharing a lot of personal information without realizing it.
• These posts could later damage your child’s reputation and be used for the purposes of advertising, fraud, or child pornography.
• Limit social media posts about your child and tighten your accounts’ privacy settings.

Scientific review: Marie-Ève Dumont, Option consommateurs Research and copywriting: The Naître et grandir team Updated: July 2023

Photo: GettyImages/svetikd