Why Posting Pictures of your Kids Online can be Dangerous

As parents, we're all aware of the nightmare that would occur if your child was kidnapped. We make sure we always have our eyes on them at all times. But what would happen if your child was 'digitally kidnapped?' The past few years, digital kidnapping has grown online. It's when someone steals an image of your kid and claims them as their own. While this isn't illegal, it IS downright creepy.

A large number of digital kidnappings involve what's called 'baby role play.' That's when people create fictional lives for children they see online. Many times the grab random photos of kids they see online, or may even use pictures from family members. These people pretend to be things like parents, prospective adoptive parents, social workers and even other children. Most of the time, it isn't malicious. But how creepy would it be to discover an online profile using a picture of YOUR kid?

Things can get much darker, with some online fantasies turning sexual. Sites like Instagram and Facebook do their best to police against digital kidnapping but it might be something to think about the next time you want to upload pictures of your young ones. Just who is looking at them?

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