Quarantine and vacations increase children’s exposure on social networks

• The cybersecurity company S2 Grupo has highlighted that during the quarantine there was an increase in photos and videos of children in all kinds of situations (TikTok videos, cooking, studying, playing sports, etc.).
• Failure to protect the privacy of images will affect the minor's digital identity in the future. In extreme cases, those over 14 can report their parents if they consider that their identity is damaged.
• The company’s experts have drawn up a decalogue of recommendations to protect the image of children in online environments.

Valencia, August 18, 2020.- The cybersecurity company S2 Grupo has warned that during the quarantine there has been a considerable increase in photos and videos of children on social networks (TikTok videos, cooking, studying, doing sport, etc.), as is the case during vacation periods, which means an overexposure of their image in public environments and, therefore, a greater risk that they may be victims of cybercrimes (cyberbullying, cyber extortion, etc.).

 “Sharing photos of our children, nephews and nieces, etc., who are under-aged is not a problem as long as we do it in private settings. The problem is that we don't usually do this and we make three main mistakes. These are to provide personal data with photo and place, and then make them public. Without realizing it, we are generating a digital identity for this minor that will be almost indelible in the future”, said José Rosell, managing partner of S2 Grupo.

“The publication of these images is done with the best of intentions, but we must remember that they can be manipulated and in many cases they have been used by other minors to mock or in albums with child sexual content. This means serious cybercrimes with very harsh consequences”, said Miguel A. Juan, managing partner of S2 Grupo.

The cybersecurity company has reiterated that from the age of 14 the minor can decide on their digital identity and, if they consider that what was published by their relatives in their childhood has damaged their honor or dignity, they can report it.

DECALOGUE TO PUBLISH PHOTOS OF OUR CHILDREN

The S2 Grupo team has developed a decalogue to publish photos of our children in a responsible and secure way:

1. Remember that in order to publish photos of minors up to 14 years of age, there must be a parental authorization. And, in the case of minors between 14 and 18 years old, they must give their consent.
2. Do not publish with geolocation and avoid information that identifies the minor (school, parks, school uniform, housing, etc.)
3. Never upload images of the child without clothes (this is very common in babies, in places like beaches or swimming pools, bath time, etc.)
4. If there is no written consent, do not post photos of other children. And, if done, pixelate or cover the face.
5. Be selective about what you post and don't allow your entire life to be posted. You may be embarrassed in the future.
6. It is essential to make a responsible use of images on the Internet to be an example for our children. If not, it is difficult for them to do so.
7. Never tag with her name and you will prevent it from appearing in search engines like Google.
8. Share the images only with people you trust and ask your family members not to share them.
9. If you post on networks, don't post for all your friends. Reduce exposure as much as possible.
10. Remember that any image that is published on the web is very difficult to remove completely.

More information: 

prensa@s2grupo.es