Consent
I read an article recently regarding children discovering how much information about them is online, usually courtesy of parents posting on social media. Most posts involve photographs, and as the article observes, the images often start before the child is even born. The children have given no consent to have their pictures shared. The adults make the assumption that consent is given, and post away.
The article is particularly timely, as I have been contemplating leaving one of the larger social media platforms. I joined originally with a view to sharing photographs with friends and relatives who don’t live nearby. I do share a lot of photographs of our son. I’m careful not to post anything too personal, but I still question how he would feel if he came across the pictures. As his mother, I’m assuming consent on his behalf.
Photographers such as Anne Geddes have iconic styles, which may or may not appeal, but the work is deeply personal. I wonder how the babies will feel in later life seeing the pictures which were shared of them. I’m not keen on people sharing photos of me, our son, or any of our companion animals without my consent. But do I actually have the right to give consent on behalf of any of these family members? Why is there such a need to share online? However ‘secure’ we feel our profiles are, once on the internet, nothing is ever truly hidden.
As a photographer, I ask customers to complete model release forms if (and only if) they consent to me sharing the results of photoshoots online. For companion animals, or under 18s, the form is signed by an adult.
Photographs which have consent forms are used for marketing, as most potential customers look online for products and services. I don’t give any personal details about the subjects of pictures, unless adding context. Such as a recent post about a charity cycle ride.
Whatever my social media future, I should keep more hard copies of pictures. As observed in this post, technological advances mean that many of today’s photographs may, in time, be lost. While I don’t want our son to find himself featured across social media, neither do I want him to lose any record of his time as a child. In hard copy, we have greater control over how pictures are shared. If the photographs sit hidden in an album somewhere, I’d rather that, than have them cascading into distant reaches of life online.
As a parent, I have a responsibility to care for and protect our boy. Assuming consent to publish his image on social media arguably breaks a bond of trust between us. I’m creating a digital footprint for him over which he has no control. While it’s cheering to feel the internet love from friends and acquaintances, to see the raised thumbs, smiley faces, and hearts, and to read the comments, perhaps it’s time to give consent on his behalf to stop. Time to say “enough”.
Some interesting thoughts Em.
As always it’s not clear cut and there has to be some thought given before posting stuff ad infinitum with little or no consideration for the future. Personally I don’t need to see ultrasound images or ones that would potetntially cause embarassment later in life. However, there is a place for decent family photots which can be shared. I’m prompted to say that I have posted some early photos of children I taught in familiar surroundings of classroom, trips out, concerts, football and so forth. That was in the day when permission wasn’t required to take photos in the first place. Today, quite rightly, that has changed as a direct result of abuse and invasion of privacy etc. Nevertheless imagine my suprise when one of my early pupils asked if I had any more photos as his parents never took any when he was a child. Unfortunately I couldn’t help.
There has to be some sensible middle ground. Admittedly young children are not able to express their choice either way but in the goodness of time, and with careful thought by the provider, they may well enjoy seeing photos of their early life, places theyv’e been taken to and family members that can only be remembered in this format.There’s also the opportunity now to ‘tag’ photos so that future generations can see who’s who and marvel at their dress and environment.
I agree that it’s nice having photographs to look back on. I enjoy looking through family photo albums; even if I don’t remember the occasions, it’s good to have the record of experiences from younger days. As you say, the pictures also capture a sense of style and environment of the time. Hard copy family albums are a different type of record though. Once pictures are on the internet, they are there forever. However securely people feel they have locked their pictures down, they can still be copied and shared elsewhere. I suspect today’s tags will have long gone once today’s children are adults. The rate of change of technology will most likely render much of what we have today defunct – another reason to save hard copies rather than sharing things electronically. Thanks for reading, and for taking the time to comment.
Taking it further do we have the right to take photos of babies/children at all? When can a child give consent? This is an issue to me because I know of several children who have come out as transgender in their teens and hate all the photos of them taken in childhood. They feel angry about the existence of these pictures and want them destroyed. For parents this means destroying precious memories. But do we have the right to have taken or have these photos? Do we keep or destroy them? Difficult indeed.
I agree, it’s difficult. In the modern age of mobile digital technology, any one of us can have our photograph taken without consent, and also have this image shared immediately through channels such as social media. I think parents have a duty of care towards their children, but parents are also likely to want to keep memories of their children. Providing there is some sort of agreement and understanding between parent and child on how images are stored (and whether or not they are shared), I don’t think it’s wrong to keep the pictures. The child never needs to look at them, but the parent has their memory. Taking photographs is, in my own view, a legitimate way of keeping memories. Keeping those images, is also fine. How the images are stored and shared can be more controversial. I know my own parents have pictures of me as a child, which they might think of as lovely memories, but I would not wish to see shared. I don’t mind them having the photographs as memories, but I’d be disappointed if they were shared. Thank you for reading, and for taking the time to comment. It’s a topic which there are no easy answers to, and can give rise to polarising perspectives.
I go for hiding the upsetting photos and not having any around the house. School photos are difficult because they have been widely shared and that is now deeply regretted and cannot be changed. Again this was done without consent (and was the norm) but, thinking about it, the child in question always hated school photos but wasn’t able to express the reason. As lots of kids didn’t really like them it was thought to just be a normal kid thing and no big deal. Now those photos are out there forever and there is nothing that can be done.
Hiding the upsetting photos sounds like a good approach. It’s impossible to retrieve things completely once they’ve been shared electronically. I see many photo shares of young children; they’re generally lovely pictures, but I do wonder where they end up and how the children will feel when they are old enough to be aware of the images. I guess part of our role as parents is not just to listen to our children, but to understand their perspective. To treat them as human beings and never assume that as parents, we will always be right. There’s no harm to pause once in a while to consider our motivations (especially for sharing online), and wonder how we would feel if we were in our child’s place.
I never assume I’m right. I have teenagers. They tell me often and at length how wrong I am and why!
I share photos of my animals as a way to promote fostering. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to post photos of children if it’s a positive message. I don’t use facebook except for community outreach during the CA wildfire season. I try to use my photos to educate people on subjects that are relevant to the photo. For instance, showing a photo of a feral cats ear tag & informing people that it’s useful,not cruel. Showing a photo of the journey of one feral kitten through socialization. I never post people unless they consent.
Thank you for reading and commenting. Absolutely right on the animals point. Most of our rescue cats were adopted as adults, and I share photos as a way of highlighting to people that cats are every bit as beautiful as kittens are. So many adult shelter animals are overlooked, and they have endless love to give a forever home. I’ve always been drawn to the ones which are overlooked, one way or another. My first rescue cat was about 11 or 12 when I adopted her. We had 10 years together, and she was my constant through some really difficult times. How I adored that cat.