Children Seen But Not Heard

Abstract

Children's online privacy has garnered much attention in media, legislation, and industry. Adults are concerned that children may not adequately protect themselves online. However, relatively little discussion has focused on the privacy breaches that may occur to children at the hands of others, namely, their parents and relatives. When adults post information online, they may reveal personal information about their children to other people, online services, data brokers, or surveillant authorities. This information can be gathered in an automated fashion and then linked with other online and offline sources, creating detailed profiles which can be continually enhanced throughout the children's lives. In this paper, we conduct a study to see how widespread these behaviors are among adults on Facebook and Instagram. We use a number of methods. Firstly, we automate a process to examine 2,383 adult users on Facebook for evidence of children in their public photo albums. Using the associated comments in combination with publicly available voter registration records, we are able to infer children's names, faces, birth dates, and addresses. Secondly, in order to understand what additional information is available to Facebook and the users' friends, we survey 357 adult Facebook users about their behaviors and attitudes with regard to posting their children's information online. Thirdly, we analyze 1,089 users on Instagram to infer facts about their children. Finally, we make recommendations for privacy-conscious parents and suggest an interface change through which Facebook can nudge parents towards better stewardship of their children's privacy.