Canadian moms seem to have few qualms about the privacy risks of putting family photos on the Internet, according to a new study.
Out of 10 regions surveyed by software maker AVG, Canadian mothers were also the most likely to post scans of their prenatal sonograms online.
The study, which surveyed 2,200 mothers in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and Spain, suggests 81 per cent of today’s kids have some kind of online presence before they turn two.
The average age at which a child first appears online – through photos or text – was six months.
“Moms are definitely posting pictures and talking about a lot of different things and I guess everyone has different levels of concern about security,” said Cora Brady, a managing director with the consulting company Mom Central Canada.
“There’s a passion behind sharing with other moms. To help other moms and know you’re going through similar things is a pretty strong (connection) and that’s why moms love to do it.”
Canadian moms were found to be the least concerned about the privacy implications of posting information about their kids online. On a scale of one to five, with five being very concerned, Canadian moms had an average response of 3.1. The global average was 3.5 and Spanish moms showed the most concern with an average response of 3.9.
Thirty-seven per cent of the Canadian moms surveyed posted a sonogram image online, compared to the global average of 23 per cent and only 13 to 15 per cent of the parents from France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
Brady said many mom bloggers will either post under a pseudonym or change their children’s names when writing about them online. She hasn’t heard many moms talk about the privacy rights of children, and has heard more discussion about how today’s technology will one day give kids a glimpse into their past.
“I’ve heard the flipside where people say, ‘Isn’t this fabulous? I’ve started this blog when my daughter was born and when she’s older she’ll be able to see this whole blog about every week of her life and it’ll always be there,”’ Brady said.
“I’ve heard a lot of people talk about how it’ll be wonderful for their kids.”
Parents should ensure they know the ins and outs of privacy settings when they post their children’s photos online, said AVG CEO JR Smith in a release.
“You are creating a digital history for a human being that will follow him or her for the rest of their life. What kind of footprint do you actually want to start for your child, and what will they think about the information you’ve uploaded in future?” Smith said.
