Dec 24 , 2007

"Polar Rose, is a new service that provides software tools for image search. The programs hunt for pictures based on what they depict, not just on the titles or captions attached to them.

The results are both startling and, to some people, alarming. Identifying people's faces on public photo sites and other Web pages without asking permission opens "a huge can of worms," says Lee Tien, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group in San Francisco. "It has a lot of dangerous potential.

For example, if your wedding pictures with all the guests are online for all to access, you may suddenly be able to find other shots of the same people elsewhere on the Net."

[ read the story ]

November 16 , 2007

"My Friend Flickr? The photos you post on the Web might get more viewers than you think"

"A friend of mine ... has long had the habit of posting photos of her children on Flickr, the photo-sharing site, for others to see.... one day she found that a candid photo of her six-month old son receiving toilet training had been marked as "favorite" by someone she didn't know. When she checked the person's album of favorites, she found her son's portrait among a host of adult-oriented photos and those of nude children. She was livid ...She's warned all her Flickr friends, many of whom confessed to her they hadn't considered the implications of posting their photos ...

If you use services like Flickr, then you should think very hard about each picture of your child you post. Consider your online album as the equivalent of leaving the treasured family album on a public bench for every passer-by to thumb through ...

You may want to consider photo-sharing Web sites with higher fences. EnjoyMyMedia (enjoymymedia.com), for example, takes a different approach by turning the computer folders where you store your photos into what it calls "personal broadcasting channels" that not only take the hassle out of uploading photos but also restrict access to those family and friends to whom you have issued passwords. Boston-based CEO Keith Loris sees his service as the antithesis of the Web 2.0 mantra of "share everything with everyone": "I am not interested in my 15-year-old daughter's photos, videos, etc. appearing all over the Net," he says. "I want it to be really easy for my dad, college roommate, best friend, etc. to enjoy them, but I want it to be impossible for anyone else."

[ read the coverage ]

November 20, 2007

Alyssa Dver, the National Director & Family Safety Expert for The Center to Prevent Lost Children, interviews one of EnjoyMyMedia's co-founders on safe ways mom's can share personal media online:

"PhotoPhobic? Sharing digital photos safely"

"Are you scared to use photo services such as Flickr or Shutterfly because you think your family will be literally exposed? Keith Loris discusses precautions moms should take when using the Internet to share photos, videos and other digital files. Keith talks about the potential risks and benefits of using these services. He’ll also gives tips for using these and other services safely to keep both your photos and loved ones protected!"

[ watch the interview ]