News report exposes hidden dangers of sharing photos online – especially of children

This recent Malaysian article highlights perfectly the dangers of posting photos online.

http://www.msn.com/en-my/lifestyle/family/why-putting-pictures-of-your-child-online-is-a-very-bad-idea/ar-BBrLTnU?li=BBr8Mk9

Of alarming concern are:

• Pictures of babies stolen and put on porn sites
• High numbers of images being shared online between paedophiles and those who exploit children.
• Children, as young as three, were taken from social media sites and posted on a Russian website used by paedophiles.
• GPS tags enable strangers to track children and know exactly where they live

Of course, the solution is ScramPhoto. ScramPhoto will remove GPS tags from photos, downsize and watermark them to make them unsuitable for being stolen and used in nefarious ways.

Download your free trial of ScramPhoto at https://scramphoto.com!

Are your photos being sold on Etsy?

When we post our photo online, we never really know where it will end up.

One photographer found that one of his beautifully-shot images was being used to make cheap mouse pads sold on Etsy.

The photographer, Daniel Foster, gives a full account (including screen shots of his email conversation with Etsy)

To find out more click here for article from PetaPixel.

Is Facebook turning our children into ads?

Annie, who is also a board member of Public Citizen, discovered that her daughter’s images were being shown next to ads for clothing stores that have less than ethical standards.

Facebook is allowed to create these advertisements using children’s images because “any user under 18 ‘represents’ that her parent agrees to let Facebook use her image in ads.”

In this article Annie explores the problems with consent and the intrusion of commercialism in children’s everyday lives.

To find out more click here for The Guardian article

Space shuttle Twitpic photo used by media…without even a credit

When the space shuttle Endeavour launched in 2011, a great action shot of the launch was flashed across news channels around the world. From NBC to Washington Post, it was Stefanie Gordon’s photo that was used to tell the tale and sell the story.

But not everyone knew that it was Stefanie’s photo. The image was taken from her Twitpic account. All that she asked was that the organisations credited her and spelt her name correctly. Unfortunately, most websites and national news channels failed to credit her, let alone pay her.

Due to the nature of public photo sharing and Twitpic’s Terms of Service, no one was obligated to credit Stefanie.

To find out more click here for Stefanie’s story

Student finds her Facebook photos on porn sites

A British university student, Grace Marr, discovered that three of her Facebook photos were being used to advertise “hot sexy singles in the area” and “no-strings attached” sex on a porn site. The photos were ordinary selfies.

To find out more click here for article from The Telegraph.

Jennifer Lawrence opens up about nude photo hacking

Towards the end of 2014, Apple’s iCloud was hacked and a number of female celebrities had their personal photos taken. Hunger Games star, Jennifer Lawrence, was one of the victims: hackers stole nude photos of her and shared them with the world on the internet.

The 24 year old actress felt “sexually violated” and shares how this scandal has affected her, both as a celebrity and as a woman in a candid interview with Vanity Fair.

To find out more click here for full interview with Vanity Fair.