'Parents post their kids’ photos online despite knowing it may cause harms'

Agencies
August 28, 2018

Aug 28: Although Indian parents are aware that images of their children posted online could end up in the wrong hands, most of them are still sharing their kids' images online often without any consent from them, a survey by global cyber security firm McAfee revealed on Tuesday.

The survey, titled The Age of Consent, found 40.5 per cent of parents in India (with Mumbai being the most active) post a photo or video of their child at least once a day on their social media accounts, with 36 per cent posting a picture of their child once a week.

Most parents identified the following concerns associated with sharing images online including paedophilia (16.5 per cent), stalking (32 per cent), kidnapping (43 per cent) and cyberbullying (23 per cent), but many (62 per cent) don't even consider if their child would consent to their image being posted online.

"What's even more alarming is that a whopping 76 per cent of parents say they are aware that the images of their children posted online could end up in the wrong hands," the survey noted.

Mumbai (66.5 per cent) was followed by Delhi (61 per cent) and Bengaluru (55 per cent) where majority of parents believed they have the right to share images of their child online without consulting them first.

"The survey reveals parents are not giving enough consideration to what they post online and how it could harm their children. Posting kids' information may compromise their personal information," said Venkat Krishnapur, Vice-President of Engineering and Managing Director - McAfee.

Responsibility lies with parents to understand the implications of their social media habits/actions and the repercussions the child may face, he added.

The survey found parents from Mumbai to be most active with 48 per cent posting a picture of their child on social media at least once per day in comparison to other metros like Delhi (38.5 per cent) and Bengaluru (31 per cent).

More than half of the parents surveyed (67 per cent) admit that they have or would share a photo of their child in their school uniform despite the risk of giving away personal information thus paving the way for stalkers to get added details on their child's whereabouts.

While 55 per cent of parents only share images of their child on private social media accounts, 42 per cent are still sharing images on public social media accounts.

"Parents from Bengaluru (59 per cent) exercise highest caution and post pictures of their children only from private social media accounts, closely followed by Mumbai (57 per cent) and Delhi (48.5 per cent)," the findings showed.

While it's clear that parents are worried about physical risks to their children's safety, results indicate less concern about the emotional risks.

Interestingly, it appears mothers consider the embarrassing side effect more than fathers, with 47 per cent mothers admitting that they would never post images their children would be embarrassed by, in comparison to 38 per cent of dads.

To reach this conclusion, McAfee commissioned market research firm OnePoll to conduct a survey of 1,000 parents of children aged 1 month to 16 years old across Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.

"Many social networks will tag a user's location when a photo is uploaded. Parents should ensure this feature is turned off to avoid disclosing their location. This is especially important when posting photos away from home," said McAfee.

Parents should only share photos and other social media posts with their intended audience, it added.

Comments

Unknown
 - 
Tuesday, 28 Aug 2018

Sponsored survey I think. 

Ibrahim
 - 
Tuesday, 28 Aug 2018

How to avoid such threats..? Does a anti virus help from such situation? I did many times. How to save my family from threat

Ramprasad
 - 
Tuesday, 28 Aug 2018

Many people think that hackers, attackers, criminals use only big foots images. Wrong. They may use anyones. Less noticeable has more probability

Suresh Kumar
 - 
Tuesday, 28 Aug 2018

Should not post recent updates of your family. If you cant avoid posting on social media, then post after some years. Not recent one

Mohan Bhatt
 - 
Tuesday, 28 Aug 2018

People want publicity. They do not think about future threats.

anonymouse
 - 
Tuesday, 28 Aug 2018

This is the most uselss and senseless article i have ever read in my life .
Do you think a 3 year old or a 1 year old can give consent for the pictures ????

If you are at all living in 2018 , with facebook, twitte and instagram , you should know that nothing that you ever do is private .

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News Network
January 12,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 12: Protesters plan to intensify their anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act movement from sit-down satyagrahas and rallies to street and door-to-door campaigns in different parts of the city.

The street campaigns began on January 1 with 20-30 volunteers of Hum Bharat Ke Log, reaching out to people in Koramangala and Whitefield and explaining the CAA, National Population Register (NPR), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and related issues. They have organised four campaigns.

According to Zia Nomani, member of Hum Bharat Ke Log, the campaign will intensify soon. “Over 200-400 volunteers will organise nukkad sabhas and other activities around JP Nagar and Banashankari,” Nomani said.

She added that though protests began as a medium for people to vent their concerns, more needs to be done.

“We have realised that many people have begun working on their personal documents and want to help them understand what CAA is all about,” Nomani said.

Volunteers will talk to people at street junctions, discuss issues and run signature campaigns. They say: “Our movement is focussed on reaching out to people. Pro-CAA workers too started a door-to-door campaign last week.”

Avani Chokshi, an advocate who participated in a campaign, said though people had a cursory idea about these issues, they didn’t know the details. “It through such campaigns that we can reach more people. It’s important to talk to people who haven’t made up their mind about the issues or are even pro-CAA,” said Avani, adding, “It hard to combat hatred in a short span of time. The movement needs to be sustained.”

Activist Geeta Menon, who has been at the forefront of the street campaign, says they were heckled at some places.

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News Network
January 12,2020

Kochi, Jan 12: Golden Kayaloram, the fourth and last Maradu residential apartment was razed by controlled implosion in Kochi on Sunday afternoon as per the directions of the Supreme Court.

The building came crashing down, leaving the entire area in a cover of white smoke.

Earlier today, Jain Coral Cove, the apartment having the maximum number of housing units among the illegally built buildings, was razed down at 11:02 am.

The authorities coordinated the operations from a control room set up at the office of the Inland Waterways Authority of India.

As per municipal records, there were 122 housing units in Jain Coral Cove and 41 in Golden Kayaloram.

The prohibitory orders that were clamped in the area will remain imposed for the day. The district administration on Saturday imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

On Saturday, the 19-floor H2O Holy Faith apartment complex with 90 flats and the Alfa Serene complex with twin towers were demolished at 11 am and 11:05 am respectively.

The buildings are razed for violating the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules. The directions in this regard were passed by the Supreme Court last year. 

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News Network
May 12,2020

Bengaluru, May 12: People returning to Karnataka from other states will have to remain in quarantine">institutional quarantine even if they are asymptomatic, according to Department of Health and Family Welfare Services, Government of Karnataka

"All persons returning to Karnataka from any State, symptomatic or asymptomatic shall be kept in quarantine">institutional quarantine," read an order issued by the State Health and Family Welfare Services.

It further read, "For persons claiming to come from Goa, Deputy Commissioner of receiving district should verify and in the event of adequate capacity not being available, can put them in home quarantine for a period of 14 days, if the claim regarding the origin state is confirmed."

"Deputy Commissioner/Special Commissioner, BBMP will fix the rates for hotels where such returnees will be staying on a payment basis," the statement read.

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