I question how much right and control we have as bloggers over our content and photographs. Can I protect my children and their identities whilst still remaining an open and honest blogger?
I am extremely conscious of the fact, we as bloggers make the choice to put ourselves out there. We choose to share and reveal personal aspects of ourselves and our families, publicly on the Internet. However, does this take away our rights and our control over who can use and share our content and photographs and what it can then be used for, once it is out there on the World Wide Web.
Whilst I love blogging and writing about my drama's, experiences and misfortunes my priority is and always will be my children. For me, the Internet is an absolute mine field and I'm fully aware that I'm only a small fish in a very big pond. There is so much I don't fully understand and I don't feel I can ever begin to understand all the laws, regulations and procedures and this worries me. I feel out of my depth and out of control. Which means I'm out of my comfort zone.
I would like to think that the world is full of honest and genuine people, like me, with good intentions. However, sadly in reality this isn't always the case.
I know of bloggers who have had their photos and content used without their permission and this makes me feel extremely uneasy. I fear that the children of these bloggers are being treated unfairly and their human rights are being taken away from them. Everyone has a right to their privacy and as parents we have a responsibity to protect our children, until they are old enough to make their own informed choices, regardless of how good our intentions are or our reasons behind what we do!
The Internet is full of uncertainty and im not willing to risk the uncertainty of my children's identity and privacy.
I have come to the decision that in future posts I will be minimising the amount of photographs I publish and the content which identifies my children. I hope this won't take anything away from my writing or my blog. I still aspire to be an open and honest blogger however I'm choosing to keep certain accepts personal. For example photos which I will be saving for the family albums.
Any thoughts on this controversial subject would be gratefully received below.
Obviously these are only my views and opinions, and isn't an attempt to cast judgment on other bloggers who choose to do things differently to me. I will still continue to follow and support all the great bloggers out there regardless. The world is built up of different people, opinions and views and it's our right to have these.
