posting pictures of your (young) kids on the internet. Dangerous?

[vash]

i see it all the time. especially on hunting forums. guys dress up their young daughters in camo, and ask, "is my daughter cute in camo?" is this insane? i was watching some crime documentary, where the internet is the latest and greatest contact point for pedophiles. (i sometimes wish i took other turns in life and ended up as a law enforcement person dedicated to hanging child molesters.)

i understand i am more cynical and suspicious than the average person, and maybe that isnt always the best thing. what do you think? is it unsafe to post up pictures of your kids? i am not a computer wizard. can a saavy perv get obsessed and track the kid down?

[masraum]

Seems possible, but unlikely that from a picture that a parent posts, that they could track the kids down unless they do it on a family website that just so happens to have each family members personal email address

[TechnoViking]

The way I figure, there is a slight risk if a weirdo could actually come and find you if they wanted. I use my real name and location here, so I tend not to post pics of my kids much, although I have done it.

You'd have to look pretty hard to find someone's kids by their username alone.

[Rick Lee]

I don't understand why folks blur out their license plates or kids' faces in online photos. You can see these things all day long on the street. Is there some danger in people seeing them online?

[MRM]

Are the children invisible to people in daily life? Can people who drive by their home or school not see what they look like? Are their parents not in the phone book or have their address posted on their mail box? What exactly is the risk of posting photos on the internet? That some psycho is going to get obsessed with that particular kid through that particular photo and track him or her down? I think it's goofy to post pictures of your family and invite comments on them, but I don't see the safety issue. If someone is going to abuse a kid, it's going to be one that he knows, has personal access to, or can gain the confidence of. I would be suprised if there was ever a documented instance of a pedophile seeing a stranger's kid's picture on the internet, getting obsessed with the kid, and then kidnapping him or her. If a pedophile is going to do something like that, he's going to cruise by an elementary school or hang out in MySpace.

It's kind of like people obsessing over cutting their mailing labels off magazines before throwing them away. Are they worried that someone is going to find the old magazine and track them down through the address label?

[cgarr]

I don't remember where is was but a guy was going to HS swim meets taking his own pictures

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by MRM

It's kind of like people obsessing over cutting their mailing labels off magazines before throwing them away. Are they worried that someone is going to find the old magazine and track them down through the address label?

Actually, this did happen to me once. I brought my dad's Time Magazine with me on a flight to Germany. On the train ride from the airport, I was in a car with a bunch of East Germans (around 1988) and struck up a conversation with a guy next to me. He asked if he could have my Time. I asked if he was worried about it getting confiscated. Train was destined for Dresden or somewhere like that. He said no. So I gave it to him. About two mos. later I got a letter from his daughter. We stayed in touch for a few years and I actually met up with her in Munich after she had left Cottbus for good. So, yes, those address labels can have a very long shelf life.

[Z-man]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

I don't understand why folks blur out their license plates or kids' faces in online photos. You can see these things all day long on the street. Is there some danger in people seeing them online?

License plates -- insurance companies can use them to determine if a driver has been in violation of their policy - like submitting a claim on an accident that occurred on a racetrack or at an autocross. (Some insurance policies will not cover such incidents -- other policies strickly prohobit such activities - especially with leased cars.)

Child's photos - that's a bigger concern, in my opinion. The more a predator knows about a child, the easier it is for the predator to engage that child. Sure - you can see a child all day long on the street, but the problem becomes when the web allows a predator to 'virtually' enter a home via chat/facebook/myspace...etc. Pictures of children on the web give such a predator more tools to gain the trust of a child. "Sally - your new cammo outfit looks sharp! Can you put that outfit on for me and post up pictures?" Further - a predator can view the background of the picture to further elicit trust - "Sally - I have a cool new red Barbie car for your Barbie dolls. Dress up your barbie in that red and white outfit of hers, and bring it down - I'm sure she'll look terrific in her new car!!"

Yes - it is up to parents to make sure kids aren't talking with strangers - on the street and online as well. But when it is no easy to gain access into the home via the web, it becomes more difficult to keep the child safe.

Just my $0.42,
-Z-man.

[vash]

Z...see? i agree. a kid that is invisible to a perv is the safer kid. kills me that it is the PARENT posting up the pics.

i wouldnt.

[the]

Why do it? What is the upside to you or your child?

[KaptKaos]

Let's say you have a high school daughter. That girl has a myspace and facebook page. She lists her school and her last name and is tagged in some of the pictures she posts so you know what she looks like.

A predator now knows the school, roughly the town she lives in and her last name.

Go to www.zabasearch.com and type in your last name and your state. Let me know what you find. Did you find your address? Your phone number?

Still feel safe?

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by MRM

Are the children invisible to people in daily life? Can people who drive by their home or school not see what they look like? Are their parents not in the phone book or have their address posted on their mail box? What exactly is the risk of posting photos on the internet? That some psycho is going to get obsessed with that particular kid through that particular photo and track him or her down? I think it's goofy to post pictures of your family and invite comments on them, but I don't see the safety issue. If someone is going to abuse a kid, it's going to be one that he knows, has personal access to, or can gain the confidence of. I would be suprised if there was ever a documented instance of a pedophile seeing a stranger's kid's picture on the internet, getting obsessed with the kid, and then kidnapping him or her. If a pedophile is going to do something like that, he's going to cruise by an elementary school or hang out in MySpace.

It's kind of like people obsessing over cutting their mailing labels off magazines before throwing them away. Are they worried that someone is going to find the old magazine and track them down through the address label?

That's why my children have never left the home. Ever. Yup, they're safe.

C'mon folks......seriously? You're going to obsess about this, while you probably have multiple sex offenders living within a mile of your home? If you want to worry about your kids, there are WAY more substantial things to worry about. Furthermore, if I post a picture of my kid, how is Mr/Mrs pervert going to contact them? Send ME a PM?

You want to talk scary, talk Facebook or Myspace. Lots of kids, including some of my little sister-in-laws, post personal information on their pages. Anyone can contact them, start a dialog, and pretty easily figure out where they live. Not to mention the personal, and sometimes provacative, pictures that get posted there. As Chris Hansen has been nice enough to show us, THAT is a real threat. That's the reason why my house will have one computer in my soon to be finished basement office adjacent to the family room, featuring some very nice glass french doors.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by KaptKaos

Let's say you have a high school daughter. That girl has a myspace and facebook page. She lists her school and her last name and is tagged in some of the pictures she posts so you know what she looks like.

A predator now knows the school, roughly the town she lives in and her last name.

Go to www.zabasearch.com and type in your last name and your state. Let me know what you find. Did you find your address? Your phone number?

Still feel safe?

OK, I did that. It said that there are "1000s" of people w/ my last name in my state. It would need a whole lot more info and if someone had that, why would they need zabasearch?

Went through this same discussion 8 years ago on this forum and some anonymous poster claimed that he could pull up my personal info from my name or something. (My name is extremely uncommon, first/last together). He couldn't do it.

I still feel safe. And if I had kids, I'd be a hundred times more worried about molesters and pedophiles in the real world than the internet. Those creeps have operated just fine in the analogue world for centuries.

[GothingNC]

Originally Posted by KaptKaos

Let's say you have a high school daughter. That girl has a myspace and facebook page. She lists her school and her last name and is tagged in some of the pictures she posts so you know what she looks like.

A predator now knows the school, roughly the town she lives in and her last name.

Go to www.zabasearch.com and type in your last name and your state. Let me know what you find. Did you find your address? Your phone number?

Still feel safe?

Scary, pulled up my address and DOB

[craigster59]

I think the main concern for people is the photo can be photoshopped onto someone else's body (nude or otherwise) or in a compromising position.

You may not have a problem with your child out in public, but it would be a whole different deal if a stranger came up and snapped their photo.

Edit: Here's an example, http://news.aol.com/article/christmas-card-photo-in-czech-ad/522807

[KaptKaos]

Originally Posted by speeder

OK, I did that. It said that there are "1000s" of people w/ my last name in my state. It would need a whole lot more info and if someone had that, why would they need zabasearch?

You can narrow the search by city. That's why I made specific reference to the school name in my previous post.

I don't think you can put kids in a bubble, but you also can take reasonable steps to protect them as well. Nothing will be perfect, but that doesn't mean you don't try.

[Rot 911]

I don't know how many times I have posted pictures of my daughter on here. I use my own name and am listed in the phone book. On the other hand, if you attempt to enter my house uninvited or attempt to do any harm to my daughter, you will find yourself dead.