A new video is going around and making parents question how and what they share about their kids on social media. The video, made by Deutsche Telekom, uses AI technology to create Ella, a 9-year-old girl, who is played by an actor. Ella describes how posting children's photos can negatively impact their digital footprint and can be used for harm.
"I know for you these pictures are just memories, but for others they are data," a digitally aged Ella tells her parents in the video.
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Ella's parents are also played by actors and are described in the video as people who post a lot about Ella online, from random moments to more significant moments such as birthdays.
They are completely unaware that what they share could be dangerous for her in the future.
The video campaign shows all of the potential danger that comes with sharing your child online. This can include bullying, identity theft, and the creation of child sexual abuse material, or CSAM.
In the video, Ella shows her parents how images of her can be used to make memes that lead to her being targeted. It also shows how her voice can be manipulated to fool her parents.
"Once an image is shared online, it can be hard to control where it ends up," Rebecca Portnoff, director of data science at Thorn, a nonprofit that fights the spread of child sexual abuse online, told ABC News.
She went on to add that "bad actors use a variety of content manipulation technologies and services to alter benign photos and videos, usually from a child's social media account, or on the open web, to sexualize this content."
With the rise and accessibility of AI technology, it's something that parents need to be more aware of. We may think we're harmlessly sharing photos or videos, but we never know who has access to them.
Making photos and video private or less easy to access is one of the best ways to protect your child from any of these horrors.
"Parents can talk early and often to their kids about online safety and foster an open and judgment-free environment at home. They can work to understand the apps, social networks, and online services their child uses, as well as what privacy controls are available – and then utilize those privacy controls," Portnoff told ABC News.
"It's important to educate children about online safety, including why it's important to avoid sharing personal details and … the permanence of what's shared online," she added.
