Parents should be aware of risks when sharing pictures of their kids online

IT begins with parents posting online a photo of a shadowy ultra-sound. 

The cyber-chronicling of a child’s beauty, accomplishments and adorable antics begins before they have even been born. The next decade is a highly personal record of grinning albums of Kodak moments shared to family and friends on social-networking sites (SNSs).

Parents’ grand-standing of children’s achievements is well understood, but what about cherishing privacy, guarding a child’s dignity and building their confidence? How will your child feel about your ‘digital branding’ of them without their knowledge or consent? Do they deserve a clean digital slate on which to write their own story? ‘Charlie bit my finger’ might remain a quaint, viral classic, but what about the infant-tantrum videos regularly uploaded to Youtube, which reveal a child at their most ridiculous and vulnerable?