[thelist] Specific images

James Aylard webmaster at equilon-mrc.com
Thu Sep 13 16:17:46 CDT 2001


Norman,

> Could you elaborate some more on why the extra care? Is the concern that
the
> parents will object or are the certain laws and ordinances that prohibit
the
> use or perhaps something else entirely.

    I am not aware of any specific laws that would regulate this, but you
have to keep in mind that by publishing an identifiable image of a child,
especially with identifying information such as the child's name or age, and
implicitly indicating where and when that child can be located (e.g., at
church x every Sunday morning), you are providing information that could be
very useful to someone who might desire to harm such children.
    While I think it is highly unlikely that someone would use a church web
site in this manner, if someone nonetheless desired to do so, they could.
Because of that possibility, I would suggest erring on the side of caution,
especially with children. That's the world in which we live, unfortunately.
    Also, I do think parents should have explicit authority over whether
identifiable images of their children are published in such an
indiscriminant manner (and the web is about as indiscriminant as you can
get).

James Aylard





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