Online photo and video sharing how dangerous is it ?

Online photo and video sharing how
dangerous is it ?

With the new technology in place its more than ever easy to share information with friends and relatives across the  global  via various social media platform available.

But have you ever thought of the dangers one is exposed  to while sharing photos and videos of you or close relatives be it your child or family members. Am not saying this to condemn you from sharing your  photos and  videos online rather I wish draw to your attention  its flip side.

Am quite sure  that you have ever upload a photo or a video online and lived to regret why you did so? Before you do contemplate to do so ,its wise to learn how messy it can turnout before clicking on the upload bottom.

Its true uploading photos and videos onto social media platform can be a great way to share memorable moments with  friends and family or boost engagement with your community.

But there can be risked associated with posting photos and videos online without  denying  how convenient  its. Unfortunately,so are the dangers. Not only can photos and videos be stolen,copied or even manipulated  and used by strangers, but many photos, especially those  taken by phone or devices with G. P .S technology ,contain tags that reveal exactly where the photo were snapped.

In other words ,if a parent,guardian or a care giver takes a photo of his/her child playing at home than post online ,its possible for stranger with the knowledge and skills to know exactly where they live.

There are various things you can do to reduce the risk of your photos and videos  being shared more widely than you intended,hence reducing your change of falling victim.

a) Think before you post - once a photo or a video is posted online ,it can be shared,copied or even manipulated. Therefore not been able to control how a photo or videos is used by others.

b)know who your friends are on social media platform - You would probably have hundred of friends on you social media pages i.e Facebook, Instagram, YouTube  chances are you don't know them all that well.
Therefore take a moment to review your friends list to make sure everyone still sounds familiar.

c) Disable the G .P .S technology - before taking that photo or video to post online ,check the location setting on your device to know  what apps are using G. P .S
and turn them off or limit the functions.
Also check what information is included with your photos before posting  them online.

c) Check your privacy settings - when uploading photos and videos,check your privacy settings on the social media platform you use as well as on the device. For those using Facebook accounts and many others  networking sites gives users the option to decided when it come to who can view post,photos, videos and personal information embedded on your accounts and timeline.

d) Stand up for yourself ( and your loved ones) - Am sure you can  agree with this,that majority of the people are in  social media groups and pages that you were either added to,without being fully aware what it was all about. Yet continue to be part of. It's group you would find a friend or a relative post photos and videos of you or your family  and  they don't  seek your permission while doing so.
In such a situation  ask them to take them down. After all you don't know how carefully they monitor their friends list ,be on Facebook ,Instagram, YouTube what apps, so it's impossible to know who views the photos and videos.

Its hard to control and monitor  how you photos and videos  are used once they are posted online ,but  these steps would help reduce the chances of been victim of identity impersonation .