Nowadays many of us post photos online without thinking of any possible consequences. Perhaps you wonder what harm could one little photo do to your reputation, but you might not know what nefarious activity your photos may be used for. Here are a few important things you should know about posting photos online.
1. Photos posted online can reveal your identity and location
Your photos can reveal much more information than you think. Pictures taken with your phone may have GPS/informational tags that reveal your location information, and photos taken in front of your home, school, etc. make it easy for other people to know where you live and study. However, it doesn’t mean that you should be paranoid about posting photos online. Just make sure there’s nothing obvious in your photos that might reveal your location to others.
2. They can be stolen
There are plenty of online dating websites that create fake profiles to draw in new members. If you are not careful with posting your photos online, it could be your photo that ends up on one of these websites. There’s a great underground market where pics are bought and sold illicitly to fund these unlawful activities.
3. Be careful with accepting friendship requests
Always be selective about who you accept as a friend on social media websites. Accepting all friendship requests is not a good idea. You should review your friendship list and delete people that you don’t want to be connected with. This can help keep the integrity of all your information including your photos.
More: 7 Tips for Becoming Famous Online
4. Privacy settings
Most social networking websites give you options, which let you control how other people see your personal information and photos. Facebook has the option for ‘everyone’, ‘friends’ or ‘friends of friends’ to see your personal information and photos. Don’t forget that if the other person tags you in photos, these photos will be viewable to the friends of the person who tagged you as well as the friends of anyone else who is tagged in these photos. It’s better to de-tag yourself from the photos and delete them from your photo album. De-tagging yourself will separate your face from your name and your profile page. It’s one of the best ways to keep your identity a secret.
5. Don’t upload it
If you have embarrassing or revealing photos, don’t upload them. Also, if you’re unsure of whether or not to post a photo, don’t post it. If you’re a parent, you must never post photos online that will be embarrassing to your child in later years. It’s always a good idea to leave those naked bath photos to your family photo album.
6. Stand up for yourself
If you have a relative or friend that posts your photos that you don’t actually want posted, you must ask them to take it down. Just tell them exactly why you don’t want them to post your photos. You never know who can see the photos that you’re tagged in, so it’s very important to stand up for yourself in the situation where you don’t want the photo posted.
7. Be careful with blogging websites
There are blogging platforms that are slightly different to social networking websites, Tumblr, for example, because they’re based around the individual rather than the group. Always be careful with the information that you provide to the readers. If you use pictures of yourself on a blog, make sure you don’t reveal your personal information publicly.
While posting photos online may be fun, you should know several rules to manage your photos in a sensible fashion. Did you know about these things? How often do you post photos online?
