Datafication of Children

Is it ethical to post pictures, videos or even updates about your children online?

For some, an ultrasound picture of a baby in the womb may be the part of a fun pregnancy announcement to a couple’s family, friends and loved ones. To the unborn baby however, this could be the start of their datafication. Before they are born, the entire world will have seen the very first image of them ever taken. Although many accounts are kept private, just about any account can be duplicated, hacked, and identities can be taken.

Let’s suppose the child turns three or four. Four years of photos and updates have been posted and now a mother posts that her child has a learning disorder and they have found a great amount of help through a program. Could this post potentially impact a college committee’s decision to let the child enter their school 14 years later?

The following is a video that further demonstrates the idea of the datafication of children:

Many argue that social media is nothing but a place to share the highlights of their life with the people that they love. Social media an allow us to stay in contact with family that lives across the country. It helps us keep what some may call a “journal” of our lives so we can go back after years and see what we were doing on this day five years ago.

88% of adults ages 18-29 use at least one kind social site. People use it for their own personal reasons such as keeping in touch with family, find new music, pass time, look at memes, or just to share their lives and opinions with the world. The question our society needs to think about is whether or not is ethical to create a digital footprint for our children in their early years.