child protection charity in UK is urging parents to ask their children for permission before uploading photos and videos of them on social media. This follows study by Ofcom, communications watchdog, revealing that parents are divided on whether it is right to post photos of their children online. practice of parents uploading photos and videos of their kids is termed "sharenting". This is combination of words "share" and "parenting". Ofcom said the biggest reason for parents not sharing photos of their kids is to protect privacy of under-18s. The NSPCC said: "Each time a photo or video is uploaded, it creates digital footprint of child which can follow them into adult life."
The website theatlantic.com highlighted how prevalent sharenting is in USA. It said: "In United States, the vast majority of 2-year-olds…already have online presence. More than 80 per cent of babies younger than that are already on social media." The website said there is conflict between parent's pride in their children and his or her desire to share photos of them, and potential dangers of sharing photos of their kids. Parents often include personal information about their children along with photos they upload. This could put kids at risk of identity theft and digital kidnapping. There is also danger of parents publishing real-time information about their children's whereabouts.
