Back-to-School Photos Could Expose Children to Identity Theft, Experts Warn
As families share first-day-of-school photos online, cybersecurity experts are warning parents that seemingly harmless details in the images could expose children to privacy and identity theft risks.
Back-to-school signs often include a child’s name, age, grade, teacher and school. While individual details may appear harmless, experts say criminals can combine them with information obtained from social media, public records, data breaches and other sources to build a detailed profile of a child.
Aaron Weissenfluh of TenFold Security said information visible in a typical school photograph could potentially help someone identify where a child attends school or determine additional personal details.
William Steenson, special agent in charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Kansas City, also warned that publicly available information can be used in social engineering and phishing attempts targeting families.
Children can be particularly vulnerable to identity theft because they rarely check their credit records or apply for financial services. Fraud involving a child’s identity can therefore remain undetected for years.
IRS investigations have included cases where children’s names and Social Security numbers were used on fraudulent tax returns without their families’ knowledge.
From a child protection perspective, experts say parents do not need to abandon the tradition of taking back-to-school photographs. Instead, they should reduce the amount of identifying information shared publicly.
Parents are advised to avoid displaying a child’s last name, nickname, age or teacher’s name. They should also check the background for school names, home addresses, locations, uniforms or other details that could identify where the child lives or studies.
Families concerned about identity theft can also explore safeguards such as the IRS Identity Protection PIN, a six-digit number used to help verify a taxpayer’s identity when filing federal tax returns.
Protecting a child’s privacy, experts say, can allow families to preserve precious school memories without unnecessarily exposing personal information.
