Sharenting: Protecting children on social media

Once on the internet – always on the internet. Images can be saved or shared further. This means that the image can continue to circulate even if you have long since deleted your original post.

Every person has the right to their own image. However, as soon as images are uploaded to social media, this right is often transferred to the platform. It is worth studying the data protection guidelines of the respective platform in detail beforehand.

Children learn from their parents and adopt their behaviour patterns. Children whose parents share intensively often create their own media profiles at an early age and have a keen interest in presenting themselves online. As parents, be aware of your role as role models.

What parents find funny or cute is not necessarily so for their children. During puberty and as they develop their own personalities, it is important for children to maintain control over their own “image”. Potential embarrassment for children can lead to bullying at school, for example if offensive nicknames or memes are created based on a picture.

When parents publish their child's date of birth, pictures of their face or their full name online, it is easy for cybercriminals to steal the child's identity. Identity theft can also occur through phishing and be distributed on the dark web, for example.

Social media is full of countless images of children in swimsuits, swimming trunks or even naked on family holidays at the beach – a treasure trove for paedophiles. But even harmless images of children can be edited. The recent incorporation of AI is particularly worrying, as it can be used to generate realistic images of child sexual abuse.

Information in pictures such as the name of a sports club, hobbies, street names, children's full names, etc. can give grooming criminals clues to track down your child. It is therefore better to leave out unnecessary information when posting and use nicknames. 

Avoid showing your children's faces in order to protect their identity. Even if the child is recognisable by other distinctive features, you should refrain from sharing the image.

Avoid taking pictures that could embarrass your children now or later, or that could be detrimental to them. This includes pictures of them in swimsuits or underwear, on the toilet, or similar situations. And set the bar higher rather than lower.

When sharing, refrain from including additional information such as real names, schools or places of residence so as not to put your child at unnecessary risk. Deactivate features such as geotagging or metadata and it is best to leave out unnecessary information altogether.

In your privacy settings, ensure that your images can only be seen by close friends and deactivate forwarding permissions. Only use encrypted messaging services.

Read the privacy policies of social media platforms and only share photos of children on platforms where you retain full image rights.

The basic principle is that everyone has the right to their own image. It is therefore advisable to only share pictures of children on social networks once the children are old enough to give their active consent.

Are there other people in the picture? Ask everyone for permission to publish it. And remove the picture as soon as anyone in it changes their mind.

Before sharing, take a moment to consider whether sharing is appropriate and necessary in this case. Use our sharenting self-check to help you decide.

1. No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his or her honour and reputation.
2. The child has the right to legal protection against such interference or attacks.

1. Anyone whose personality rights have been unlawfully infringed may seek legal protection against anyone involved in the infringement.  
2. An infringement is unlawful if it is not justified by the consent of the injured party, by an overriding private or public interest, or by law.

1. Everyone has the right to respect for their private and family life, their home and their correspondence, postal and telecommunications traffic.
2. Everyone has the right to protection against misuse of their personal data.