The risks of publishing the first photo (and all the others) of your child on social networks

An image that everyone recognizes: the ultrasound of a fetus.

A tag:

.

And a text that warns that this is the first photo of Marina, but it will not be the last that her parents share.

This is how a very powerful visual campaign of the ANAR Foundation begins, a non-profit organization that helps children and adolescents at risk and neglect, through the development of projects in Spain and Latin America, within the framework of the Convention on the Rights of the United Nations Child.

The action is intended to make parents aware of the consequences of uploading photos of their children at all hours to social networks and calls for compliance with Spanish legislation, both at the state and regional level, "which is fully applicable in the digital environment”, they defend from ANAR.

The right to privacy is enshrined in the Spanish Constitution, specifically in Title 1 of Fundamental Rights and Duties, Second Chapter (Rights and Freedoms), Section 1, Article 18.1 and is recognized in Organic Law 1/1982, of 5 of May.

These consequences have, broadly speaking, three aspects: the digital footprint they generate, what it will mean psychologically for these minors when they grow up, and the legal consequences that will foreseeably take shape as time goes by.

More information

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Having photographs of the whole family is logical and natural.

20 years ago, in homes there were precious snapshots on matte or glossy paper that completed albums or decorated bedroom and living room furniture.

"But that is a thing of the past and now what we have is one constant click after another that fills the mobile gallery with countless photos and videos that we immediately upload and share online," explains Rebeca Gómez, an expert psychologist in childhood at the

. European of Positive Psychology.

The Spanish Agency for Data Protection calls

or

the overexposure of personal information on the internet.

In particular, on social networks.

"Speaking in terms of good or bad would be the most appropriate, because each family sets its own limits and rules in relation to the use of new technologies," says the psychologist.

However, continues Gómez, what is known is that sometimes parents are not always a source of support: "In many countries, up to a third of minors reveal that their parents have published information about them on the Internet without consulting them, babies and young children are not even aware of this fact, according to data from a 2020 study by the European Union.

Common sense is essential in practically all areas of life and, of course, online

.

It is not the same to sporadically upload a photo than to do it daily, it is not the same to give all the data —names, likes, dislikes (recording a tantrum and uploading it to the networks, for example)— than just telling things about minors .

“What I would like to remind parents is that when they upload images they put their children at risk because they can be used for different purposes without their consent, they are creating a digital footprint that they do not choose.

And in the older ones, they can lead to problems in friendship relationships, it can even promote

because a misinterpreted snapshot or video can be a reason for ridicule and the perfect excuse to encourage this harassment”, says this expert.

There are two types of publications: those that parents make to be proud of their children and others that are financially motivated.

For Gómez, it is very common on social networks to see mainly mothers talk about how much they like a certain brand of clothing or food while they record their children with said material: "The usual thing is that they are not aware of the problems that may arise , but it is a fact and an upward trend in Spain and this is confirmed by several academic studies, such as

(Castelló-Martínez et al., 2015) and, even, studies carried out from the business field, such as the

of 2018. The figure of the minor actor on television has been established for a long time and does have specific protection in the legislation, but the same does not happen in social networks”.

If they still decide to share it, Gómez advises that parents never give the location of their children or that from the images it can be easily deduced where they live;

that their faces be pixelated, that permission be asked when they are a little older and can decide.

“Lastly, parents need to make sure that the recipients are trustworthy and will not share the images, in addition to turning on the necessary privacy settings.”

"The problem is that at a general level, parents are not really concerned about the digital footprint that we all have if we participate in the digital sphere, something that is almost impossible to avoid," explains Julio de la Torre Hernández.

He is an expert lawyer in technological law in computer forensics, creator of abogadociber.es and ambassador of

,

dedicated exclusively to the conscious digital footprint.

For the expert, when you interact on the internet, a trace is left, and it affects everyone equally, whether it is done with permission or without it: “Everything stays: my photo, my personal data, my email, what I like, what no".

For all this, he is of the opinion that fathers and mothers do not have the right to intervene in the privacy of their child: "Even under the excuse of the right to freedom of education that one has over him, because inadvertently against his dignity.

A right protected by the Constitution

When publishing an image of anyone on a social network, the right to one's own image comes into play and this, of course, includes minors.

"It is a fundamental right regulated and protected in our Constitution," explains Carmen Caro, a family lawyer at the Winkels Abogados firm.

As she reports, for example, the decision to publish a photograph of the common child on a social network belongs to the sphere of parental authority, parental responsibility generally attributed to both parents, being, therefore, a totally independent question of custody. .

In Spain, Organic Law 3/2018, of December 5,

of Protection of Personal Data and guarantee of digital rights establishes that the publication of images of minors under 14 years of age must have the consent of the holders of parental authority, that is, of both parents.

This same law distinguishes the treatment for those over 14 years of age, so that from this age the minors themselves can give or withdraw this consent.

If one of the parents requests it and the judge considers that the images published so far constitute an illegitimate interference with the minor's fundamental right to privacy, he or she can agree to the withdrawal of all publications.

Caro explains that, in the same way, the Public Prosecutor's Office can also request that all the content be removed and can even file an ordinary lawsuit on the protection of the right to honor, privacy and self-defense. and representation of the minor.

“An adult can unilaterally make the decision to show her image whenever he wants and where he wants;

but he cannot and should not make that decision in the life of his children because an overexposure in networks can condition his future life ”, affirms Carmen Caro.

And this, according to the lawyer,

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