BERGEN COUNTY, N.J. — Those cheerful “first day of school” photos flooding social media this week could reveal more about your child than you realize, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office is warning parents.
“As your child poses for that ‘first day of school’ picture, BCPONJ reminds you to be mindful of how much information you share online,” the prosecutor’s office said Tuesday.
The warning comes as parents post photos of children heading back to school, while older students share pictures as they move into college dorms.
According to the prosecutor’s office, predators can use information visible in photos and social media profiles to pose as children online, potentially targeting other children or families for exploitation, extortion, sextortion or scams.
“Predators could use it to steal your data or deceive your child,” the office warned.
One concern is how easily a seemingly harmless photo can reveal a child’s school, uniform, neighborhood or other identifying information. Location data and publicly available profile information can provide additional details about where a child lives or spends time.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and other child-safety experts recommend taking precautions when posting photos of children, including:
- Take photos from a distance or while the child is looking away.
- Focus on part of the child, such as a hand, rather than showing their face.
- Cover or blur the child’s face.
- Remove school names, logos and other recognizable details.
- Keep social media profiles private and limit followers to people you know and trust.
- Restrict who can send friend requests, messages or tags.
- Turn off location sharing and remove geotags from posts.
- Consider limiting individual posts to a smaller group, such as Instagram’s “close friends.”
The practice of parents regularly posting photos and information about their children online has even earned its own nickname: “sharenting.”
The prosecutor’s office is urging parents to think beyond the photo itself and consider what a stranger could learn by combining the information in the picture with what is already publicly available online.
A first-day-of-school picture may be a proud moment for parents. But officials say it is worth taking a second look before hitting “post.”
