Baby's Safety Online

This has been an on-going topic amongst parents and it seems like it's going to continue along with the evolving virtual world of social media internet. And ever since our very own little belle entered toddlerhood, this has become a part of our discussion as parents as well.

Amongst the articles I've read discussing/debating this issue, I've come across two questions that are always being asked. (1) Are you violating your own child's right to privacy? (2) Is it safe to post photos of your child?

And these are my takes.

(1) Violation of my child's privacy. This sounds silly to me, trying to imagine my toddler, who can't even control her bladder yet, invoking the right to control her own photos.

"The violation of personal privacy doesn’t start until an individual has the ability to understand what the violation means." - New York Times

Makes a lot of sense to me. That's why it becomes part of our many responsibilities as parents -  to make sure that our children are safe and protected - whenever, wherever. For me, bum-naked is already a violation of my child's privacy. I once posted a photo of her right after birth, blurred out except for her face. But eventually took it down after a while because I find it too much for sharing. The context of how photos are being shared should also be considered.

(2) Safety of my child. This one I find a bit too much.

“Research shows that there is virtually no risk of pedophiles coming to get kids because they found them online,” said Stephen Balkam, chief executive of the Family Online Safety Institute. While the debate makes this crime seem common, he said, all the talk is really just “techno-panic.”

Exactly my point. Of course protecting children from dangerous people should be a concern to all parents. However, these people are more likely to target children they know and who trust them already, instead of those they have only seen on the Internet.

And besides there are a lot of precautions already in posting photos of your child online. You can manage your privacy settings and control the people who can view the photos that you share. For public photo sharing sites such as Instagram, just make sure that your photos are not being posted with Geotagged Location. If Geotagging is turned on, all of your posts will be automatically included in your Photo Maps thus providing the location from where you are posting. This not only provides threat to your baby's safety but the entire family's safety as well. Of course you can manually provide the location from where your photos were taken but I suggest limiting it to public places only and not your private homes.

Different strokes for different folks. At the rate of which my toddler is growing, I love the idea that I can easily look back at her babyhood with just a few clicks. We are in a long distance family  relationship, so online is just about the most convenient way to share and update each other. I don't mind if sometimes I over share. I love sharing her photos, the funny things, the milestones and whatnots to family and friends, here and abroad. Photos of Ava always get more likes than photos of what I ate, my arts and crafts, etc. So I guess family and friends appreciate her photos too.

And if you have a child as beautiful as mine, you won't be able to help yourself from sharing. Otherwise, you'll explode from too much cuteness.. :D

The "BAH!" face.