The Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information

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What is your child allowed to post?

Strichmännchen im Studio
Source: strichfiguren.de - Adobe Stock

Today, it is as fast as easy to take and to post a photo or to include it in the family chat. The lives of children and adolescents are often documented online in social media and they naturally grow up with that. At the latest with the first class chat or the use of their own devices, there comes the fun of posting something on their own and disseminating pictures or videos of themselves and others.

To keep the fun going, the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI) would like to give some clues about what parents, children and young people should consider when publishing, for example, images on the Internet.

First of all, the following applies: Every person has a right to his/her own image. This applies to both photos and videos. As soon as persons are recognizable, this right must be respected. People should always be asked whether they want to be filmed or photographed. This is especially true if your children want to post photos and videos on which other persons can be recognised. What is cute and funny today can be embarrassing for children tomorrow. Do not ignore your children’s wishes if they do not want their photos or videos to be put on the Internet. And above all, raise your children’s awareness about the fact that they always have to ask for permission when they want to share photos or videos. It is hardly possible to control whether the photos or videos on the recipient’s pages remain truly private.

A thoughtless snapshot on the beach or on the school trip — many children and adolescents post in real time to let others participate in their own lives. Notwithstanding all the fun, it is important that you also draw your children’s attention to the possible consequences. With every picture posted, you can make yourself and others vulnerable. Even a picture that is alienated in a funny way as a joke is in the end funny only for others, who then share this supposed fun on the Internet and increase the dissemination. These pictures can hardly be deleted again. Especially in cases of cyberbullying, harmless photos are often alienated.

Pay attention to your children’s postings. Support your children in dealing with social media. It is not about banning postings or only seeing dangers. Parents can be role models and the best thing to do is to convince your children that photos are and should remain a private matter.