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Pictures And Privacy Concerns


JSWilson64

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We are a parent-and-child caching team. My spouse and I are quite paranoid security-conscious about posting pics of our kids online, or our kids doing it. Our older child knows not to post pics on MySpace or Xanga-type sites. So, the older child was somewhat indignant when we posted a pic in a cache log entry.

 

I explained that there's no personal info associated with our user account at all, so it would be hard to garner any stalker-type info from the pic that we posted. Still, it does seem a bit double-standardish.

 

So, what do other parent-types think? Do your log entries contain pics of your darling kids hoisting the cache contents like the Stanley Cup, or do you play it safe?

Edited by SquirrelsWillRule
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I have no problem posting pictures of my kids on the net, I am more concerned about the wackos that are out wandering around the streets than the net.

71abebbe-dbe8-42b4-a261-85b3f019f5e9.jpg

 

My kids are not old enough to start posting pics or playing with my space crap. We have one computer in a common area so there are no real concerns YET

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We are a parent-and-child caching team. My spouse and I are quite paranoid security-conscious about posting pics of our kids online, or our kids doing it. Our older child knows not to post pics on MySpace or Xanga-type sites. So, the older child was somewhat indignant when we posted a pic in a cache log entry.

 

I explained that there's no personal info associated with our user account at all, so it would be hard to garner any stalker-type info from the pic that we posted. Still, it does seem a bit double-standardish.

 

So, what do other parent-types think? Do your log entries contain pics of your darling kids hoisting the cache contents like the Stanley Cup, or do you play it safe?

Under what scenario do you see this as being dangerous? And what type of helicopter do you fly?

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No need to be paranoid - lots of creeps out there but I keep a close eye on my boys. Already way to easy for somebody to track me down. A few innocent pictures isn't going to change that fact. I think the creeps aren't just looking for a smiling child - they are looking for more revealing info and pics.

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I'll veer away from the general trend and post at least a note of caution. You should always know how much information is publicly available on you around the net, and at least take it into account before posting more information (e.g. your kids' pictures). All it takes to find identifying information on someone you don't know is to find two or three snippets of info, such as a first name, profession, email address, and/or what city you live in to start someone on a trail to learning a lot more about you.

 

For example, I have done some online dating and I will google (actually Yahoo) people, and it's amazing what information you can find easily. I recently did this with one potential date. I knew his/her first name, profession (HR), industry (restaurant), and city. In a half hour, I found on the internet this person's last name, workplace name/location, email address, age, a couple of hobbies, a couple of volunteer events, when this person bought his/her current home and how much he/she paid for it, and daughter's first name and age. If I wanted to continue, I would have at this point been able to find his/her home address and phone number fairly easily, as well as whether he/she has been married before and to whom. This is not someone who has a blog or mySpace account or anything like that, and I didn't use any site that requires registration or costs money. This is just using a few pieces of information to find confirming and new information, and using that to find more info, etc., in what is effectively a chain-of-information.

 

If you have a few pieces of identifying info in your gc.com profile, such as profession/occupation, city you live in, and email address, as well as any personal info you put in your profile, forum posts, and logs, a chain-of-information can get started.

 

In one piece of irony, another cacher used information that I put in my profile here to find out my online dating profile, and asked me "so your birthday's in September, huh?" Blew me away, until I realized the source, and then I was just embarassed....

 

You cannot allow yourself to be overly paranoid, but you do need to know what information is publicly available. My general rule-of-thumb is to ask myself whether I really need and want this info to be found by someone with evil intent and what they could do with it. And I may in the future post pictures of my kids geocaching, but I won't post any pics of my kids in my online dating profiles.

 

Food for thought...

 

Team Maccabee

Edited by Team Maccabee
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I'll veer away from the general trend and post at least a note of caution. You should always know how much information is publicly available on you around the net, and at least take it into account before posting more information (e.g. your kids' pictures). All it takes to find identifying information on someone you don't know is to find two or three snippets of info, such as a first name, profession, email address, and/or what city you live in to start someone on a trail to learning a lot more about you.

 

For example, I have done some online dating and I will google (actually Yahoo) people, and it's amazing what information you can find easily. I recently did this with one potential date. I knew his/her first name, profession (HR), industry (restaurant), and city. In a half hour, I found on the internet this person's last name, workplace name/location, email address, age, a couple of hobbies, a couple of volunteer events, when this person bought his/her current home and how much he/she paid for it, and daughter's first name and age. If I wanted to continue, I would have at this point been able to find his/her home address and phone number fairly easily, as well as whether he/she has been married before and to whom. This is not someone who has a blog or mySpace account or anything like that, and I didn't use any site that requires registration or costs money. This is just using a few pieces of information to find confirming and new information, and using that to find more info, etc., in what is effectively a chain-of-information.

 

If you have a few pieces of identifying info in your gc.com profile, such as profession/occupation, city you live in, and email address, as well as any personal info you put in your profile, forum posts, and logs, a chain-of-information can get started.

 

In one piece of irony, another cacher used information that I put in my profile here to find out my online dating profile, and asked me "so your birthday's in September, huh?" Blew me away, until I realized the source, and then I was just embarassed....

 

You cannot allow yourself to be overly paranoid, but you do need to know what information is publicly available. My general rule-of-thumb is to ask myself whether I really need and want this info to be found by someone with evil intent and what they could do with it. And I may in the future post pictures of my kids geocaching, but I won't post any pics of my kids in my online dating profiles.

 

Food for thought...

 

Team Maccabee

 

I guess I have to question the surprise of learning what information is available about me on the internet, considering I'm the one who put it out there. Just like everyone else.

 

Do I need to be concerned about my and my children's safety when I post information on the internet? Yes.

 

Does that mean I should not post a picture of my children finding a cache? No.

 

Provided I and my children understand and practice proper internet usage.

 

What is that practice? Sorry, not my job to teach you. Talk to a professional.

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Thanks to everyone for their responses - gives me some stuff to think about.

 

I diagree somewhat with this, though:

I guess I have to question the surprise of learning what information is available about me on the internet, considering I'm the one who put it out there.

There's plenty of personal information on the Internet that you did not put there. Our county tax rolls are online, so I can look up the property owner's name and address. Used to be able to look at a picture of the property, too, but they took that down. Reverse phone lookups let me see who's calling if all I know is the number. Texas makes license-plate lookup available for a fee (20 bucks, I think). Public records searches are available for modest fees, too. For less than $100, you could have plenty of information about someone from public agencies, even if that individual has never heard of the Internet.

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Thanks to everyone for their responses - gives me some stuff to think about.

 

I diagree somewhat with this, though:

I guess I have to question the surprise of learning what information is available about me on the internet, considering I'm the one who put it out there.

There's plenty of personal information on the Internet that you did not put there. Our county tax rolls are online, so I can look up the property owner's name and address. Used to be able to look at a picture of the property, too, but they took that down. Reverse phone lookups let me see who's calling if all I know is the number. Texas makes license-plate lookup available for a fee (20 bucks, I think). Public records searches are available for modest fees, too. For less than $100, you could have plenty of information about someone from public agencies, even if that individual has never heard of the Internet.

 

Yes, I understand but I was referring specifically to Team Maccabee's comment about

 

"If you have a few pieces of identifying info in your gc.com profile, such as profession/occupation, city you live in, and email address, as well as any personal info you put in your profile, forum posts, and logs, a chain-of-information can get started."

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Yes, I understand but I was referring specifically to Team Maccabee's comment about

 

"If you have a few pieces of identifying info in your gc.com profile, such as profession/occupation, city you live in, and email address, as well as any personal info you put in your profile, forum posts, and logs, a chain-of-information can get started."

 

The point I was trying to make with that is that the gc.com profile can provide enough information to allow someone to get more pieces of information freely available on the internet. I would be especially concerned about people putting unique pieces of information in their gc.com profile, such as their primary email addresses (as opposed to just a general or geocaching email like some people use) or personal web page links.

 

The main point that I was trying to make, though, is to know how much info is readily available on you on the internet, so you can make informed decisions on what information to put in your profile and logs here or elsewhere.

 

Team Maccabee

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Really, I think it's all about keeping things in perspective. Almost all of the public information that can be found on the Internet was previously available, just not quite as quickly.

 

Children are at MUCH greater risk from friends and family than from someone that happens to track them down via the net. Posting pics in a log is even farther removed than a pedophile in a chat room (which is still a rare thing).

 

Yes, kids online shouldn't give away all of their personal info...but someone happening upon their pic in a log, and trying to track them down is such a ridiculous chance in my opinion, I wouldn't give it a second thought.

 

Here are some stats showing the differences in "stranger danger" and what really puts kids at risk (4x more likely to be abducted by family):

 

Mayo Clinic source

 

Nonfamily abductions

• In 1999, more than 50,000 children and adolescents were taken by nonfamily members by physical force or coercion for at least one hour.

• Ninety-one percent of nonfamily abductions lasted less than a day, with 29 percent lasting two hours or less.

• Classic nonfamily kidnappings pose the greatest risk of death or serious harm. About 100 children were kidnapped by nonfamily members in 1999.

(Source: U.S. Department of Justice National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children, 2002)

 

Family abductions

• 203,900 children each year are victims of family abductions, where the child is taken by a noncustodial parent.

• 24 percent of these abductions lasted one week to one month. Police were contacted in 60 percent of the cases.

(Source: U.S. Department of Justice National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children, 2002)

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Whenever we fear something or avoid something we are only playing the statistics game. It really comes down to asking yourself "What are the chances I'll be affected." We make these decisions every day; should I drive on the highway, should I walk downtown, should I fly, etc. We could all lock ourselves up in our homes and avoid everything that could potentially be dangerous to ourselves and our families but that would be silly. Granted we all take precautions, as we should, but at what point are our fears taking over and controlling our lives. How can we live if we fear life?

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Don't know if this thought has been said but I don't think posting pictures of children is bad, really. As long as YOU have control over the content of those pictures and other info relayed with them. Even a child posting a picture of themselves wouldn't necessarilly be bad.

 

There is a concern that I would have, and I am having difficulty expressing it or defining this border line but when the child is communicating in connection with the photo, on a regular basis, or if there is other information included with a post about locations and favorite hang outs... where a predator might see the picture and zero in to the child to confront them and start conversing with him/her that you might have a problem. Otherwise, I would think it is just a picture.

 

I guess, as I think about it, if you are posting the picture and your identification in your post shows where or what city in which you live, any other identifying information or any information that might lead someone to an area where you or your children might frequently visit, especially alone or without you with them, that could lead to some wacko stalking out a child. Now, do I think it would happen from a log entry on GC.com or a picture in a thread like this? Not likely. However, in connection with, say, an ongoing conversation or correspondance between a child and a potential predator, where the photo is one link in a chain of building information, that could be a reason for concern. That's why parents need to be aware and supervise what their children are doing on the computre. I would think, that would be unlikely but, if you are at all concerned, it could happen. Best, whenever you do post photos, to keep them as annonomous as you can and try not to reveal more information in your accompanying posts than you need to. Frankly, I think it is that other information that would be more dangerous than the photo. Also, make sure that photos are not too discript as to specific locations and such that could lead someone to know where they might confront you or your child.

Edited by wmas1960
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it is my considered opinion that your children are under no more risk for having pictures of them involved in activities with you. the fact that you are engaged in activiites together makes your children less appealing targets.

 

happy, well-supervised children or even just well-supervised children are unlikely to be targets of strangers.

 

when well-supervised children come to be at risk is usually when someone you know turns out to be not who you thought they were.

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FYI the geocacher "Dino Digger and Dad" was arrested for kiddie porn. For more info go here

 

http://wikisposure.com/Wolfman

 

Ew. No relation, by the way.

 

it is my considered opinion that your children are under no more risk for having pictures of them involved in activities with you. the fact that you are engaged in activiites together makes your children less appealing targets.

 

happy, well-supervised children or even just well-supervised children are unlikely to be targets of strangers.

 

when well-supervised children come to be at risk is usually when someone you know turns out to be not who you thought they were.

Very good points.

 

I've avoided posting pictures of my kids elsewhere but have done it often here.

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He(double)l, back in 1965, I was accosted by a pedophile and that was way before any pictures, blogs, profiles or anything nearly resembling the internet was even thought of. If someone wants to abuse a kid, it is in their nature. It's not something that is made any easier or harder to a wierdo, by posting an innocent kid pic on a web site. In 1980, my son was accosted by a pedophile. Yes, it happens! Yes, we should take care of our children's education on how to recognize and deal with adversities. Posting an innocent pic on a website does not make some child the immediate interest of an attacker, but with additional information, a local abuser, and the opportunity, it could happen.

 

So, it's 10 o'clock. Do you know where your kids are?

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I post some pictures of my son and I or just him with a find. I usually refer to him by a made up "nickname" when I post one or talk about him in a log. My firends that I cache with also use that "nickname" for him in there logs as well.

 

So to me it really doesn't bother me. But as a parent, I would say go with your gut feeling. I know I enjoy looking at pictures on my caches and seeing some family pictures. I like to see pictures of family's out and enjoying a area they have never been to before. That's some great family bonding time.

 

The smile I get from my son when he find's a ammo can and him wondering what "treasure's" might be inside is one of the best feelings I get. All most brings a tear to my eye. I guess a kind of proud feeling.

 

I do take a lot of pictures that I don't post though. My wife likes to sit down and go threw the photo's of my son and I out caching. Sometimes we get wow, that looks like a neat place and others it's he went where and climbed up what???

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Here are some stats showing the differences in "stranger danger" and what really puts kids at risk (4x more likely to be abducted by family):

 

Mayo Clinic source

 

Nonfamily abductions

• In 1999, more than 50,000 children and adolescents were taken by nonfamily members by physical force or coercion for at least one hour.

• Ninety-one percent of nonfamily abductions lasted less than a day, with 29 percent lasting two hours or less.

• Classic nonfamily kidnappings pose the greatest risk of death or serious harm. About 100 children were kidnapped by nonfamily members in 1999.

(Source: U.S. Department of Justice National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children, 2002)

 

Family abductions

• 203,900 children each year are victims of family abductions, where the child is taken by a noncustodial parent.

• 24 percent of these abductions lasted one week to one month. Police were contacted in 60 percent of the cases.

(Source: U.S. Department of Justice National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children, 2002)

 

I'm also one of the mid-west minded people that gets a little old school on this whole 'kids' topic... I dont think it's anyones job to raise a child, but rather to train an adult. Teach them the hows and whys of decisions like this, and when things are ok or not, and talk to them about how they'd be doing things. Do this before they figure out that they already know everything and hate you.

 

On the stranger danger topic, I want to give a big loud shout out to Izzy, the kid from Penn and Tellers show BS that had an episode on stranger danger. One day he told his mom he wanted to ride the subway home alone... it's a center piece of the whole episode... also from the same episode, the fact that they are statistically more likely to be hit by lightening than to be in danger from a stranger, which raises the question, what are we teaching them about lightening? :cry:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpvlHjFICd0

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