Is it time to stop posting pictures of kids on social media?

German experts advise anyone posting images of children on social media to conceal their identity. — dpa

Parents who post pictures of their children on social media should seriously consider concealing their identity, according to some German experts.

Those who feel compelled to parade their offspring on Facebook, Instagram, et cetera, should protect them by using a discreet angle or picturing them only in sunglasses, for example, according to the German privacy campaign Schau Hin.

They should also ensure that their profile information and images are only visible to selected contacts and not to search engines, the experts say.

When uploading photos on a smartphone, make sure that location services are deactivated. Otherwise, other users can see where the photo was taken.

If you don't take these precautions, you could risk images of your children falling into the wrong hands, according to police training expert Thomas-Gabriel Ruediger.

"On the one hand, it is possible to use filter settings to find and delete naked breasts. On the other, there are thousands of problematic images of children and comments of a sexual nature on these images," he says.

However, children's rights expert Sophie Pohle says children are part of society and should therefore be visible on the Internet.

"It's not about whether children's photos should be posted on the Internet or not, but about how it is done," she says. – dpa