Should You Post Your Child’s Face Online? Here’s Why I Don’t
Last Updated on May 16, 2025 by Kay
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In an age where it’s easier than ever to post information online and “sharenting” is actually a term, more and more children’s information is being posted online, from their names to their photos and even private details about important and personal milestones in their lives, such as potty training.
When I first started this blog, I wanted to share my journey as a foreign woman having a child in Japan. However, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to include photos of my daughter that show her face, so I made the decision not to even share photos of my own face before she was born. I either cover her face or share photos that show the back of her head. Maybe this seems extreme but my husband and I are very happy with this decision because once you share your child online, you can’t go back.
After she came into this world, I wanted to continue blogging, but I knew I wanted to maintain my child’s privacy as much as possible. This meant not posting her name and certainly not her photos revealing her face on my blog or social media. I also don’t share photos of my face nor my husband because it would be easy for people to identify our daughter through us.
I think this makes it a little more challenging for me to build trust and transparency with my readers, since I’m essentially an anonymous blogger, but I am fortunate that this decision hasn’t completely prevented me from connecting with others and making friends.
That said, I’ve received some criticism from strangers. One person once commented, “Why are you covering your family’s faces? You’re not that important.” It actually made me laugh, because that kind of response perfectly highlights why I choose to protect my family’s privacy. (Like, why do you want to see my family’s faces so bad? Why does it bother you?)
So, if you’re on the fence about whether or not to share your child’s photos online, here are the reasons I don’t (and go so far as to not share photos of myself, either).
Note that I do not judge other parents for sharing their children’s photos online, especially because that’s their decision as a parent. I am not a parent to their child. I am only responsible for how I parent my daughter and choosing not to share her information online is one way I feel that I can protect her.
Table of Contents
I Don’t Have Her Permission
This is a huge one.
My mother tends to share photos of me on her Facebook, a lot, despite that I have asked her not to do this. It’s made me lose a lot of respect for her because she doesn’t respect me.
I am so grateful that social media wasn’t around when I was growing up because there would have been years of photo-sharing that I wouldn’t have known about until I was older.
At age five, my daughter is too young to fully understand what it means to have your photo shared online. Heck, I don’t even think I fully understood until I was in my twenties! (Oh, the amount of embarrassing photos I shared on Facebook when I was a young adult is… not something I want to think about.)
I don’t want to break my daughter’s trust, nor lose her respect. In fact, when she was two years old, she didn’t even like me taking videos of her when she was doing something cute (“no take photo!”). So, I have continued to blog anonymously, and my daughter is only referred to as A.
Information Online Is Accessible By Anyone
This seems obvious, but have you really thought about who is looking at those photos?
Unfortunately, I’ve heard of too many cases where people with awful thoughts about children use and manipulate images of children online for their own sick benefit. I will not allow my daughter to be abused like that.
While a majority of people, maybe 99%, looking at images of children on blogs and social media are just looking to connect as parents, there is still a small percentage of viewers who don’t have such innocent intentions. This is another reason I won’t share my daughter’s face online or post her in revealing outfits like swimsuits.
I Don’t Want Her Identified in Public
The last thing I want is for my daughter to be identified in public by strangers.
I’ve heard of children of bloggers and influencers being approached by someone who recognizes them from videos or photos online, and the prospect of that happening scares me. I’ve also heard of strangers taking photos of them in secret.
I don’t mean to sound narcissistic or anything, but sometimes tourists will ask to take a photo of my daughter, which is strange to me. (I mean, yes, my kid is super cute, but why do you want a photo of a random child?) I imagine this would be worse if I shared photos of her online.
I’ve also recognized influencers in Japan in public, which makes me kind of uncomfortable. It’s a little hard to explain, but I guess it’s mainly because I know details about their life, despite that they’re not a friend, coworker, or acquaintance.
Identity Theft Is A Thing
When you put your children’s personal information online, scammers can easily utilize that for identity theft.
I feel like this will be an increasing problem in the future, and one that I don’t want my daughter to be a part of.
I Don’t Want Her To Be Bullied
Some kids will find the smallest thing to use against another child to bully them. My biggest fear is one of my daughter’s classmates finding this blog and using the content in it to bully her somehow, especially her photos.
Especially with AI, it would be so easy for a bully to take a photo of a child and manipulate it in a way that would hurt them.
I Don’t Want Her To Focus On Her Online Image
It’s so easy to compare yourself to others and feel the need to craft a perfect online image. I feel like if my daughter knew her mother was posting her images online, she might end up comparing herself to others and unintentionally feeling uncomfortable in her own skin.
Kids are going to compare themselves to others no matter what, but I feel like it’s especially brutal online because there is so much information out there that’s readily accessible, and maybe half (perhaps even less) of it is authentic. I don’t want to normalize any of that!
I Don’t Want Her To Fear When I Take Photos Of Her
Earlier, I mentioned that my daughter didn’t like it when I took videos of her when she was two years old. Now she’s not that bothered (I always ask beforehand, though), and she has no problem if I take a photo of her. She sometimes asks me to take photos!
That last part is huge for me. Going back to the trust aspect, I want her to continue to trust me enough to feel safe when I take photos of her. She will never have to worry or fear about what I will do with those or where they will end up because it all stays on my phone.