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Detective Senior Sergeant Kepal Richards said families use the beginning of the school year as an opportunity to share photos of their children wearing their school uniforms.
“Police acknowledge that sharing these milestones are important to families, but parents and carers should think about who may be able to access these images and more importantly the information that may be found within the images,” Richards said.
There are instances where innocent images are used in child exploitation material or offenders use information from the images, like school logos, to identify and groom children, he said.
Netsafe chief online safety officer Sean Lyons said back-to-school time is a good opportunity for parents and caregivers to think about what a new year online might look like and to talk to their young people about how to keep their whānau safe.
He said guardians should consider how much detail is associated with an image that might not be obvious at first glance, eg if the children’s full names are used; identifying factors about their school; or even classes young people are enrolled in and whether the picture offered geolocation clues about where the images were taken.
“Any of this information could be used collect personal information about a young person,” Lyons said.
He said it was a good time for parents to think about their privacy settings online and to understand the safety features of the platforms theyare using, before making posts.
“Probably most importantly, if your young people are approached online, perhaps in relation to an image, make sure they know that they can talk to you, or another person that you have nominated to discuss what is going on, without fear of the removal of access to the technology,” Lyons said.
‘Blood on your hands’: Zuckerberg pushed to apology after families harmed by social media
The alert comes after Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg was pushed to publicly apologise to the families of people who said they had been harmed by his social media platform, during a heated congressional hearing over child safety online today.
Zuckerberg, whose Meta is the parent of popular platforms Facebook and Instagram, came under particular fire by irate politicians during today’s hearing before the Senate judiciary committee over whether social media companies have done enough to protect younger users from child predators, pornography and other harmful content.
Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg (right) testifies during a Senate judiciary committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington to discuss child safety. Photo / AP
The committee began by showing an evocative video of victims speaking about sexual abuse on the platforms, as well as parents of children who had died by suicide after being exploited online.
“Mr Zuckerberg, you and the companies before us — I know you don’t mean it to be so — but you have blood on your hands,” said Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina senator and the committee’s top Republican, in his opening remarks, prompting applause from those gathered. “You have a product that’s killing people.”
Later, after being called upon repeatedly by Republican Senator Josh Hawley to apologise to victims, Zuckerberg turned round to the large crowd of families present behind him, many of whom held photographs of lost loved ones, and apologised for everything that they had been through.
“No one should go through the things your families have suffered,” he said, adding that Meta was investing in “industry-leading efforts” to prevent families from going through such things in the future.
Guidelines for keeping information about children safe
Before sharing images, double-check there are no identifying features such as school uniforms and logos, school buildings or signs, or street signs. If this is unavoidable, parents can easily edit and blur school logos and signs.
Research and understand app settings, including privacy settings. This could include turning off location settings or setting profiles to private/friends only.
If another person is taking photos of your child, have a discussion around how the photos may be used and how they may be shared.
Keep children’s personal information private, including their full name and age. This can also include what year they may be starting, as this can indicate age.
Seek help and support, and report inappropriate or suspicious behaviour online.
