Moms: When it comes to social media, exercise “Stranger Danger”!

Just last week a Facebook friend of mine gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. In no time at all, family members and friends all gathered on her wall to welcome the new addition and praise mommy’s ability to procreate such a “handsome and manly” offspring. 

While I am definitely just as guilty of participating in the internet baby ogling (I ‘liked’ and cooed at every newly-added photo), I quickly grew concerned for the security of the child. While having a first child is exciting, posting the announcement online can put the baby at risk of identity theft and jeopardize their ability to gain credit in the future.  

Not to mention how embarrassing it would be for them to grow up and realize they already have hundreds of naked photos of themselves already posted online!

 

Working at CITSC, I have come into contact with countless victims of childhood identity fraud. And unlike other forms of identity crimes, those that happen during childhood can continue for decades before discovery. Because there is usually no reason for a parent to check a child’s credit report, the crime would remain unknown until the young adult applies for a car or student loan.

With the Facebook friend I mentioned above, the subject of concern for me was simply an innocent photo taken shortly after the birth of the child. The photo was certainly not intended for anything but the announcement of the birth, yet the unintended consequences could potentially be dangerous. 

From this photo, a fraudster can extrapolate the full name of the child (both mother and father were tagged), the date of birth (Facebook conveniently time stamps pictures), the gender and the place of birth. 

With this information, the fraudster can find out the baby’s SIN and use it to apply for credit. This can allow the thief to potentially take over the child’s financial identity before they even learn how to walk. 

Unfortunately, the threat of child identity theft looms with every post and update you make about your child. The following is a list of what NOT to post on Facebook in order to protect your child from identity theft and other types of ‘stranger danger’: 

• Try not to publish your child’s real name on your Facebook. If you would not tell it to a stranger in the grocery store, don’t post it online. Baby nicknames are cute anyway, right? 
• Do not use the ‘check-in’ feature. Do you really want that weird guy from high school knowing where you do your laundry?
•  Do not share any information about where the child goes to school, daycare, or even the dentist. It may seem obvious, but most parents do not do it on purpose, that information is shared in picture captions, wall posts and status updates.

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Because so much of our lives now revolve around our online presence, sharing images of birthdays, funny occurrences or landmark moments seems second nature. Unfortunately, these innocent actions may turn into a long-term headache. 

So moms, remember to practice what you preach: if you tell your child not to tell personal information to strangers on the playground, don’t post it for them online.

“Moms: When it comes to social media, exercise ‘Stranger Danger’” was written by Heather. Heather is a Case Manager/Advisor at the Canadian Identity Theft Support Centre. She likes Facebook, but does not like it when that weird guy from high school knows too much about her because of it.