Sharenting: What Your Child’s Photos Can Reveal Online

Additional resource for the lesson “Sharenting: Children’s Images Online” — Online Privacy course

Sharenting is the word for parents and carers sharing photos, videos and news about their children online. It usually comes from pride and affection. This resource looks at it from the privacy side: what a photo can say beyond the smile, why the child’s future say matters, and where to find competent advice.

A. Why this matters

Sharing family moments is ordinary, and nothing here suggests you should stop. The privacy question is narrower: who sees the picture, what it reveals, and who decides. A child has not chosen their online presence; the adults around them build its first version, often years before the child has a phone.

Child online protection is a specialist field, so this resource reports what competent bodies say and points you to them.

What the sources say

Internet Matters, a UK organisation that advises parents and carers, describes sharenting as sharing content about children online, “such as photos, videos, stories and achievements”. It notes that a first-day-of-school picture can let people know a child’s name and school.

The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) explains that the law does not prevent parents taking photos at school events for personal use. A public account is different: the ICO suggests considering “whether individuals in the photos or videos would reasonably expect the images to be used in this way”. The guidance is under review.

On the child’s own say, UNICEF UK’s summary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that “every child has the right to privacy”, and that children’s views should be “considered and taken seriously”. Advice published on Better Internet for Kids, the EU’s platform for children’s online safety, warns that harmless-seeming content “could potentially cause embarrassment or discomfort for teenagers as they grow older”.

B. Key concepts

What a photo tells, not just what it shows

A picture can show a school badge, a street sign or a house number, and may carry a location tag saved by the camera.

Why it matters to you: The oversharing ideas apply here too, with one difference: the details describe someone who did not choose to share them.

Audience

Who can see a post: family and friends, or anyone. For the ICO, a private account seen only by friends and family is likely personal use; a public one calls for more thought.

Why it matters to you: Twenty relatives and the whole internet are different audiences. Choosing one is often the simplest decision.

The child’s future say

Internet Matters suggests that as children get older you “seek their permission before posting”, and notes that younger children cannot give informed consent. The ICO tells organisations to give particular weight to erasure requests about data collected from children, adding: “This is still the case when the data subject is no longer a child.”

Why it matters to you: Asking, when a child is old enough, is a habit of respect. When they are too young, ask yourself how they might feel finding the picture as a teenager.

Family and school consent

Group photos include other people’s children. Internet Matters suggests asking the other parents before posting. The ICO adds that schools may have their own policies on photos at events.

Why it matters to you: Your choice about your own child does not extend to someone else’s.

C. A practical example: Lucia’s first-day photo

Lucia, 48, likes sharing family moments. On the first day of the school year she took the usual photo by the front door and was about to post it publicly.

She looked again, as a stranger would. The school badge was clear, the house number readable, and her camera saved location with every photo. Together, those details said which school, which street and what time a child leaves home each weekday.

What changed

• She chose a shot where the badge and house number were not readable.
• She shared it with a family group instead of her public profile, and turned off location for the camera.
• Before sharing, she asked her child whether it was all right, and let them choose the picture.

The family still saw the first day; the photo just said less to everyone else.

Where to find competent help

• Internet Matters (UK): advice for parents and carers, including short sharenting tips.
• Childnet, UK Safer Internet Centre (UK): a partnership of Childnet, the Internet Watch Foundation and SWGfL. Childnet’s sharenting page is written for young people, useful to read with an older child.
• ICO (UK): if an image of you or your child is posted and you want it removed, the ICO suggests asking the account owner first and allowing one month. If they refuse or do not reply, you can complain to the ICO.
• NSPCC (UK): if you are worried about a child’s safety, the NSPCC Helpline is on 0808 800 5000, 10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, or help@nspcc.org.uk.
• Better Internet for Kids (EU): links to national Safer Internet Centres, which typically offer awareness, helpline and hotline services; a map helps you find yours.
• FTC and ConnectSafely (US): the Federal Trade Commission explains parents’ rights over data that covered sites collect from children under 13; ConnectSafely, a non-profit, answers questions on sharenting and consent.

A first conversation (5 minutes)

If your child is old enough, three prompts. Listen more than you explain.

• “Which photos of you are you happy for people to see, and which would you rather keep in the family?”
• “Would you like me to ask you before I post a picture of you?”
• “If something online of you bothers you, how would you like to tell me?”

E. Videos, articles and further resources

Institutional sources first, then organisations for families. All in English.

Institutional sources

Information Commissioner’s Office (UK) — Taking photos in schools
School events, public accounts and asking for removal.
https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/schools/photos/

Information Commissioner’s Office (UK) — Right to erasure
Guidance for organisations, including requests about data collected from children.
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/individual-rights/individual-rights/right-to-erasure/

UNICEF UK — Summary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Children’s rights in plain language, including privacy and being heard.
https://www.unicef.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/UNCRC_summary-1_1.pdf

FTC (US) — Protecting Your Child’s Privacy Online
What the US children’s privacy rule requires, and what parents can review and delete.
https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/protecting-your-childs-privacy-online

Organisations for families

Internet Matters — Sharenting tips for parents
Five tips, from privacy settings to your child’s digital footprint.
https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/sharenting-tips-for-parents/

Childnet — Sharenting
For young people: what sharenting is and how to talk about it with a parent or carer.
https://www.childnet.com/help-and-advice/sharenting/

Better Internet for Kids — Sharenting: tips for parents and caregivers
Advice from the Romanian Safer Internet Centre, with a link to the network of national centres.
https://better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/news/sharenting-tips-parents-and-caregivers

ConnectSafely — Ask Trish: Sharenting
A US non-profit on sharenting, consent and misuse of images.
https://connectsafely.org/ask-trish-sharenting/

Links checked in October 2026. If an address changes, searching for the title on the organisation’s site usually finds it.

F. The Cyber Welfare Framework: Skills, Awareness, Secure Behaviour

This resource sits on the Secure Behaviour pillar at level FL2 – Beginner.

Skills

• Reading a photo’s background before sharing.
• Choosing the audience of a post.
• Turning off location for the camera.

Awareness

• Sharenting builds a child’s online presence before they can choose.
• A private audience and a public account are different decisions.
• Competent organisations exist for questions beyond privacy.

Secure Behaviour

• Checking the background of a child’s photo before posting.
• Asking a child, when old enough, before posting.
• Asking other parents before posting a group photo.

G. Questions to sit with

• Is there a photo of your child online you would like to check with them when they are older?
• Who can actually see the account where you share family photos?
• When did you last talk with your child about what you post?

H. What to do now

The recommendations (R) and security measures (MS) from the Cyber Welfare database that apply most directly here.

1. Before the next photo

• R32 — Turn off photo geotagging, usually in your phone’s privacy or location settings, so a picture taken at home or school does not carry the place with it.
• MS7 — Limit access to your account, photos and posts through privacy settings, so family pictures reach only the people you choose.

Minimum commitment: before you next post a photo of a child, check the background for a school name, a street or a house number, and choose the audience on purpose.

For a worry about a child’s safety, turn to the organisations above.

In short

• The privacy question in sharenting is what a photo reveals and who sees it.
• School badges, house numbers and location tags can say more than the picture shows.
• Children have a future say: ask when they are old enough.
• For specialist advice, turn to Internet Matters, the NSPCC, the ICO or your national Safer Internet Centre.

Related resources in this course

• Parental Controls: Guiding Your Child Without Surveillance
• Online Age Verification: Prove Your Age, Share Less
• Helping Elderly Parents Online Without Taking Over
• Oversharing Online: What Your Last Ten Posts Really Say

Discover more companion resources from the online courses of the Protect Your Digital Privacy programme.