Post 23: Digital Kidnapping...huh?

I think this would be tagged on the course blog as “internet creepiness”. On the topics of privacy that we are reviewing this week, I thought it would be apropos to discuss this interesting term.

So what is Digital Kidnapping?

It is essentially where users find a baby photo they like or want to have on social media, and ‘steal’ this photo and later post it and claim it as their baby or child.  I cannot even fathom why someone would want to claim to have a baby that is not their own or “play house” online. Parents who later find their babies’ photos being used elsewhere feel violated.

“Type "#BabyRP" into Instagram search. Thousands of photos of babies, children- even ultrasound pictures- will pop up. These photos do not belong to the users posting them.”

I do not have children of my own, so I would like to hear from the parents in the class... What are your thoughts?

I remember when my sister had her first child. My brother thought it would be funny to take a photo of her baby and make a meme out of it. She was extremely upset about it and did not let him post it anywhere. I guess she did not like the idea of her baby’s picture being plastered all over the internet on chat forums, websites, and/or social media.

Again, we circle back to the idea that we must feel comfortable with everything we post on these social media platforms because this information is not under lock and key. Others can and will take the information you provide (including baby pictures) and use it as they please.

What can you do to avoid digital kidnapping?

1.       A reverse image search on Google can help you find out if your photos are being used on other websites or social networks.

2.       You can watermark your photos before you post.

3.       Set your accounts to “private”