Know Before You Post
Worth Your Time!
Resource Recommendations to Help You Parent and Mentor Most Effectively
This Week's Recommendation:
"Should This Creepy Search Engine Exist?" Podcast
Available Here and on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audacy, Etc.
"I just don't think that most people anticipated that the whole internet was going to be reorganized around your face. And so a lot of people haven't been that careful about the kind of photos they're in or the kind of photos they've put up themselves or the kind of photos they've allowed to be put up of themselves."
Why It Matters
As someone who has always loved crime shows, both true and fictional, facial recognition technology isn't new to me and it can have some good uses; however, I find the current availability of it to anyone with the internet shocking and creepy. With the ease of taking high-quality phone photos and the huge use of social media, preteens, teens, and parents need to be aware of this technology for a number of reasons, including:
Photos they post or others post of them may come back to haunt them when they apply for college, internships, jobs, etc. Organizations and employers have access to this technology too!
Strangers, through posted photos, can find out who they are, where they live, where they go to school, what team(s) they are on, etc. There is a lot of information included in photos/websites/profiles that most youth don't realize that someone with bad intentions could use.
Law enforcement technology is even greater than publicly available search engines. In the podcast, they note that even protesters who wore masks in the recent college protests can potentially be identified "just from like nose and eyes and forehead."
How to Use it
Make preteens and teens aware of this technology and make sure they think not only before they post, but before anyone takes a picture of them - even friends. "Do I want anyone to be able to see this, even years from now?" While they can control what they personally post, they can't control what someone else decides to post.
Take selfies and test the technology with them! Search for "free facial recognition searches" or something similar. There are many options, and some are better than others. Pick a few and try them out so they can see the technology in action. Search for their own face as well as yours and find out what's already out there. It will leave a lasting impression! The results that come up will typically only be partial (they usually want you to pay to see all of them), but even the partial results should make the point.
Make sure they understand the information about them that can be learned from photos - names, locations, etc.
It's not uncommon for middle schoolers and high schoolers to send nudes - even youth that you think would never do something like that! This is a great opportunity to have a conversation about that with them. Remind them that even if someone promises not to share the photos, there's no guarantee that they won't show up on the internet someday and be visible through a search like this.
Let them know that the technology can even find them in a group photo. Remind them to be mindful of their friends taking pictures with them that may be posted.
Even if young people aren't actively participating in something immoral or criminal while their friends are, they can be associated with it through appearing in photos.
Remind them that law enforcement capabilities far exceed the free sites you're trying. Hopefully the youth you know won't engage in criminal activities, but those who do often think they won't or can't get caught, especially if their face is covered. As noted above, it doesn't take much for the high-quality technology to identify them.
The quality of the photo is not necessarily relevant. I was surprised by pixelated photos that came up from long-ago spiritual emphasis weeks, when picture quality was much worse than the cameras on today's phones.
There has long been a debate about parents posting photos of their children online, and most schools, camps, etc. ask parents to sign a waiver to use photos of their children. In light of this technology, is there anything you want to reconsider?
Have a more general conversation about wisdom. There's not necessarily anything wrong with taking photos and posting them, but what's wise and what probably isn't? Preteens and teens need adult help to distinguish between the two. You could even make up different photo scenarios and then discuss what would be wise and what wouldn't be in each situation. Ask for their thoughts first and ask them why they think that, and then share your own input.
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