Children's Privacy

Gone are the days of a photos being put into the family album only to be shared with boyfriends or girlfriends in an embarrassing manner.  Nowadays our phones are cameras and computers all wrapped into one.  With the click of a button those photos are on a variety of social media websites for the world to see.  But whose decision is that to make?  Recent court cases state that the photo is actually the property of the person in the photo, not the person taking it.  In other words, the photo is your child's and they have to consent to posting it.  Obviously a baby cannot consent.  And even children who can talk are not capable of knowing what they are agreeing to.  

So can a parent legally post a photo of their child?  France does not think so.  Under French Privacy law, a child could sue his or her parents for posting a baby photo on Facebook.  Lawsuits aside, France has raised the broader concern of protecting children from potential predators or others who should not have access to their photos.  This is a concern that should not be taken lightly.  Protecting our children should be paramount.