Consider the risks before posting your child’s back-to-school photo

Think twice before posting your child’s back-to-school photo online.

Parents could also be unknowingly putting their children in danger by following a social media trend. Online safety experts say these innocent photos may be used maliciously by scammers and predators, HuffPost reported.

The back-to-school trend sometimes includes images with details like the school name, teacher’s name, child’s birthday, and more. If you don’t want someone showing up at your child’s school unannounced, you could need to refrain from sharing these details. Norton’s Director of Privacy Innovation, Iskander Sanchez-Rola, warned that “anyone could know where your child is most of the day, Monday through Friday.” That’s a terrifying thought for any parent.

The principal told HuffPost: “Fraudsters can also easily identify a child by searching for their full name or by doing a reverse image search by searching for a photo of their face shared online.” The principal added: “If your child is old enough to use social media such as Facebook or Instagram, cybercriminals can use their name and image to find their account and contact them directly.”

Google’s help page explains that reverse image search works like trying to find a word or phrase. The page explains what to anticipate whenever you drag and drop a picture into the Google search bar: “Search results for objects in the image, similar images, and websites with the image or a similar image.”

HuffPost also noted that a photo of your toddler or teen could cause problems of their social circles as they become old. Just because you think that it’s cute does not imply your child will as they become old.

“Many kids worry that their friends or classmates will see their embarrassing posts online, and what might seem like a silly photo or video to you could be very embarrassing to them,” says Kaitlin Allair Tiches, a research librarian at Boston Children’s Digital Wellness Lab.