Stolen Photo Warning!

[Guest]

Very worrying thing happened to me this week that I thought I should let you all know about. A friend of mine called me a couple of days ago to let me know that she'd found a picture of my son and a mindee in my garden on the bromley childminding website. I told her she must be mistaken but went to check anyway and there just as she said was my photo on their website!

 

I promptly called up the website administrator to ask how this had happened. She claimed that she was not the one who set up the website anyway but that as I had not copyrighted it it was theres to take anyway. I asked her to remove it immediatley and she agreed.

 

When I came off the phone I then looked into it and found out that a photo has an assumed copyright to the photographer and that it is the responsibility of anyone wanting to use it to search for permission. I had got permission of the parent to use it on my web page years ago but had since made the decision not to use any images of children on my webpage to avoid such issues and so removed them. Unfortunaly this photo had already been stolen.

 

I called the bromley administrator back and told her what I had found out and that she was in fact breaking the law and she was not too pleased but they have since removed my photo.

 

So just to warn you all (as I know many friends still use photos of children(with permission) on their websites), that it is so easy for someone to steal them and use them however they like and maybe it is time we all removed them. A shame I know but there are far worse hands it could have fell into other than the bromley childminding group.

 

Marie

xxx

[HappyMaz]

This raises lots of questions, Marie, and I can completely understand why you were so cross to find that one of your photographs had been used without your permission.

 

I wonder about the issue of photographs being stolen by what you call people worse than the Bromley childminding group though. Do you mean in a safeguarding sense?

 

I haven't uploaded any photographs yet, but I had thought about how to make them theft-proof.

 

Maz

[Guest]

The faces of the children were not covered and who knows what someone may do to a photo with the right software. I guess its just opened my eyes to the whole thing really. I'm now reconsidering all of my photos on the internet, I have family photos on facebook but I'm assured that these are protected and only visable to my friends.

 

How do you make a photo theft proof? I would like to include photos of my setting without the children on but don't want anyone else using any of them either. My development officer told me that it is illegal to use someone elses photo without permission but you can't do anything about what you don't know about and it was only a stroke of luck that my friend found my picture in the first place.

 

Marie x

[Susan]

My son is a website designer and he says

 

"Well, I'd advise against any such 'protection'. It's all very easy to get around, and has drawbacks like harming the usability/accessibility of the site for disabled (etc) users."

[HappyMaz]

Does he have any advice to counter Marie's worry about someone doctoring photographs with the right bit of software?

 

I can't pretend to understand how these people's minds work but I can't really understand why someone with access to real images would need to doctor innocent ones.

 

Maz

[Guest]

I would have thought the only way to guarantee protection is not to post them at all if it is a concern.

 

By the way if you post photos on facebook they are not necessarily your property though, see below:

 

Statement of Rights and Responsibilities

For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos ("IP content"), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook ("IP License"). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.

Edited September 14, 2010 by Guest

[narnia]

I know of at least one group where the photos actually have a link underneath them,actually allowing you to email them forward to wherever you like. I guess though, that if you have a mind to, you can do that anyway? we're just setting up our first website and would welcome any advice on how to keep it as safe as possible.

[Guest]

This is why we don't have any photos of children on our setting website, and I always make a note for school when they ask permission that I do not want my children's photos on line.

 

All you have to do is right click on an image and you can copy it over from any web page - let's face it not everyone would take notice of a copyright sign even if there was one!

 

I think people are far too relaxed with uploading images online - anyone anywhere in the world can do who knows what with them. You also need to be really careful about what you reveal about yourself online, there are lots of fraudsters out there.

[Cait]

I had thought about how to make them theft-proof.

 

Maz

 

If someone chooses to take a picture from a website, it's easily done just by using CTRL PrtSc and pasting into 'Paint'. They then crop the page away around it and hey presto they have the picture.

 

Short of defacing the picture yourself in paint, using an offwhite cross band and writing on the picture, there's not a lot you can do - even then it's possible to 'un-deface' it - it just takes time and persistence.

[Guest]

I think I'll stick to not using any at all. just have to think of some inventive ways to show how I work etc.... without the children.

 

Thanks anyway for all your responses.

 

Marie

xxxxx

[Beauvink]

With todays internet and computer usage i would advise everyone not to put pictures of their children on their website, particularly in galleries as this is probably peadophile heaven - they only have to look at the background landmarks and hey presto narrow down where you and the children live. I know as i am married to a detective who is shocked by the ignorance of those posting pictures on facebook and their websites which incidently can be accessed by anyone clever enough to know how to hack!

 

Please be warned, particularly all childminders, do not post in website galleries, facebook (any social network site). Safeguard the children in your care and your own family.