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Check out the May 2012 issue: raw stories, shocking confessions, candid advice about motherhood—and more!
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Poll: Should You Ask Permission Before Posting a Photo of Someone’s Child Online?
November 7th, 2011
Photography by Slawek Puklo, via Flickr (CC)
Imagine this scene: you’re hosting a birthday party for your child. You take a few snaps of the birthday boy blowing out the candles on his cake, surrounded by friends. You post the photo to Facebook for friends and family to see. Cuteness abounds.
But wait—did you ask the parents of the other kids in the photo if they were cool with you posting the pic to Facebook? It may not be something that immediately crosses your mind—it’s just your average birthday party, after all—but it’s something that we’ll be giving more thought to after reading Peggy Orenstein’s piece on the topic over on The New York Times‘ parenting blog, Motherlode.
For some parents, posting photos of their kids on the web—whether it’s on Facebook or on their personal website—is something that they simply do not do. For others, it’s not such a big deal—they post photos and stories about their kids every day. But when it comes to posting photos of someone else’s kids, well, things get a little more complicated.
Do you ask permission before posting photos that include other people’s kids on Facebook or elsewhere on the web? Would you want other parents to ask permission before posting photos of your kids?
Copyright © 2012 St. Joseph Media. All Rights Reserved.
My son is 2, and we don’t put pictures up. The few times that a friend uploaded a picture, I just asked her if they could take it down, and they apologized and did. That being said, at parties, I’m constantly aware of cameras and I’ll just descretely move him out of the way. If I don’t want his picture posted, it’s less of a headache to just not have him photographed than to send a post-party debbie-downer email about not putting any pictures of him up.
And I’m all for doing what you feel is best, but I can’t wrap my head around posting pictures of little girls in bikini’s or naked bath shots with no coverage…sure, it’s cute to you, but you cannot, for absolute sure, know who’s finding those pictures…
We had an issue arise when we put up birthday photos of our daughter containing pics of my nephews and niece in them on Facebook. When my sister in law found out, she mentioned it to her parents, who in turn asked my hubby to take them down. She didn’t explain her reasoning, however I have the feeling she is a very private person and her own husband works in law enforcement. In any case, my hubby took them down, however he was left feeling frustrated and a bit saddened by the entire experience (just wanting to share his joy with select family and friends, then getting admonished for it). Perhaps it’s best in this day and age to tell family and friends up front about your wishes regarding photos of your kids BEFORE there is an issue.
@Sophie: Or, perhaps in this day and age the photographer should be responsible and ask if it’s ok to post on FB either before or during the event so you can make sure you take some photos without those people in it? Your SIL and her family have the right for privacy and security of their children. They aren’t trying to ruin your event or joy they are trying to keep their kids safe and secure in the best way they know and believe. And, as their family, you have the responsibility to respect their wishes – without judgement nor explanation.
Think back before FB and webpages, if a photo was taken of your child and was submitted it to a newspaper without your knowledge and then was printed for all of those newspaper readers to see, how would you feel? The privacy and security of that child is gone. FB’s rules are changing all the time. What if they get bought out in the future and all the rules on privacy changes. Kid’s photos could be everywhere “in public”. Scary.