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Just tagging a few photos from last weekend's Mommy & Me rager. Credit: Brooke Fasani/Corbis
Sheesh. Too much information, kid.
This is why babies should not have Facebook pages. Yet, everyone seems to have an online presence these days. Even babies.
PC World magazine reports that it's common for children to have an online footprint even before they're born. And many children in developing countries have some sort of digital profile before their second birthday.
The report comes from a study by AVG Technologies, an Internet security firm. According to PC World, researchers interviewed mothers in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the European Union. They found nearly a fourth of the children in these countries have digital lives before they're born.
Proud parents are posting pregnancy news -- complete with sonograms -- for all to see.
"Fools' names, like fools' faces, often appear in public places," goes an old bit of folk wisdom. However, the Internet provides a pool where even the mildest narcissist can't help but be mesmerized by his own reflection. We apparently extend this self-fascination to our children.
In the United States, PC World reports, 92 percent of children have a digital presence by age 2. In the European Union, that number drops to 73 percent.
Mothers were asked to rate -- on scale of 1 to 5 -- how much they worry about all this information about their kids floating around cyberspace. The average level of concern was 3.5. Canadian moms worried the least at 3.1, while Spanish moms worried the most at 3.9.
"It's shocking to think that a 30-year-old has an online footprint stretching back 10 to 15 years at most, while the vast majority of children today will have online presence by the time they are 2 years old -- a presence that will continue to build throughout their whole lives," AVG Technologies CEO J.R. Smith tells PC World.
Smith suggests parents stop and think a moment before tossing their kids into the Web.
"First, you are creating a digital history for a human being that will follow him or her for the rest of their life," he tells PC World. "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 tells the magazine the study also reinforces the need for parents to be aware of privacy settings.
"Otherwise, sharing a baby's picture and specific information may not only be shared with friends and family, but with the whole online world," he says.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
10-09-2010 @ 8:22PM
Mitch said...What in the world is wrong with people today. Posting any information online (and I repeat ANY) can be dangerous. There are hackers who can get your associates (mother, father, etc.) private information from even a fingerprint. The web is a good tool if used wisely but wisdom and web users rarely exist in the same body. Oh - there are wise and brilliant web users but the majority seem to be lacking in that all important entity called wisdom. Let's keep our privacy for as long as we can. God only knows how long that is - and gtowing even shorter.
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10-09-2010 @ 9:27PM
cqdeed said...Most people online get what their stupidity deserves but to inflict that stupidity on their children should be classed as child abuse. Yeah, you're a proud mama or papa but think of that computer as a loaded gun instead of a toy. Be carefull with it and use it with care. Otherwise it may turn around and shoot your kid.
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10-10-2010 @ 12:20AM
Arnisha said...its very stupid to put your childs information online its like your asking for something to happen them i was on a website once and a first time parent ahd photos of her baby with just a diaper on and nude photos of her a smany pervs are online why would she do that and she had pics of her birth certificate,age,first middle and last name, her and her dads full name and all this other imformation, we understand your excited but you dont need to brag your chils isnt no better than all the other kids out there and your not the only first time parent out there i cant stand it when parents act like there kids are better than others and be so particular on them but then u got a facebook page that belongs just to them with all their information on it for evry perv online to get in contact with its stupid dont be so excited till you regret what you do, i mean this lady ha deverthing her city,state,adress,phone number and she put her number out saying u can calll and give us a congrats and say hi to the baby ho w stupid, she even had pics of her house and stuff she ha devyrhting you needed to know for a burgler to come and kill u or rob you and take ur baby, i wish the police would see that site and see what she has on that people like her need to be arrested for exposeing children and unnesssary imformation,how stupid and nieve can parents be but there so quickt o call us teens dumb and nieve but the same ones who doing that are the ones who are just as stupid as can be.
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