eco Survey: One in Three Germans Does Not Take Precautions When Posting Holiday Photos

• One third of Germans (31.3%) do not take any precautions when sharing holiday photos.
• Those who do take precautions avoid sharing pictures with sensitive content (39.4%), only share pictures with a selected group of people (38.1%) or refrain from sending pictures that show children's faces (19.9%).
• eco provides 5 tips on how to protect your children when sharing holiday photos.

Summer, sun, beach. The holiday season offers offers great photo opportunities that many Germans like to share with their friends and families online: a joint trip to the sea,, children building a sandcastle or splashing around in the cool water. These seem like harmless photos, but they can cause big problems if they are not adequately protected when shared via messenger services and social media platforms.

A representative survey* commissioned by eco - Association of the Internet Industry shows that a third of those surveyed (31.3%) do not take any measures to ensure that their holiday photos are as secure as possible online. And this is despite the long-known dangers of thoughtlessly sharing photos of children online.

However, it is not that difficult to take precautions that help to protect your own pictures, says Alexandra Koch-Skiba, Head of the eco Complaints Office. It is important to check the pictures before sharing them, especially if children are visible in them. "It is completely understandable that parents want to capture special moments on holiday, take photos of their children and show them to others,"" says Koch-Skiba. "But what is crucial is what can be seen in the pictures and with whom or on which platforms they are shared."

The eco survey shows that there is an awareness of what, where, and with whom they share online: For example, 39.4%of Germans do not share pictures with sensitive content. 38.1% of those surveyed only share their holiday photos with selected people and 19.9 % do not share any pictures showing children's faces.

showing children's faces.

However, since it is not enough to take just one of the measures mentioned, Koch-Skiba gives five tips on how parents can protect their children when sending or sharing pictures online during the holiday season or at any other time of the year:

1. Avoid sharing pictures that show too much skinIn general, the Attorney-at-Law recommends not sharing photos of children and adolescents naked or lightly dressed. This also includes photos in swimwear. Although it is understandable that parents want to capture their trip to the sea or the swimming pool, Koch-Skiba warns that family photos can fall into the wrong hands and be sexualised: "It's always important to keep in mind that screenshots of your posts or status update can be taken, and that parents may not be aware of their further distribution."
2. Avoid showing the faces of minorsThe Head of the eco Complaints Office also advises caution with seemingly harmless photos. "Even photos taken when visiting tourist attractions, at the playground or at a children's birthday party can end up in paedophile forums and be taken out of context if shared and published carelessly," warns Koch-Skiba. This is not the norm, but parents should be aware of the potential risks. The general rule is covering your children's faces with a smiley, pixelating them, or just photographing them from behind, is not only safer, but also protects their privacy rights.
3. Involve children and educate themIf possible, parents should involve their children in deciding who they share their photos with. "Of course, this only works if the children are a little older," says Koch-Skiba. "However, those who introduce their children to this topic at an early age are also doing important educational work for their future use of social media as teenagers." The eco Complaints Office is also involved in prevention, for example in the form of regular workshops at schools and parents' evenings.
4. Check security settingsKoch-Skiba also recommends sharing photos only with selected people, such as relatives or close friends. Popular messenger services and social media platforms offer extensive security settings that go beyond the actual decision of a private or public account. "If I want to share holiday pictures in my status - which means, temporarily and for up to 24 hours - I can now decide for each individual contact whether or not they will be shown to them," explains Koch-Skiba.
5. Reporting inappropriate photosIf you have any concerns about your posts, you should consider deleting it. This is the least you can do to minimise the risks. The same applies to the use of messenger and social media services by adolescents on their own mobile phones. Inappropriate photos of children and young people can also be reported to the eco Complaints Office.

*On behalf of eco, the market and opinion research institute Civey surveyed around 2,504 adult German citizens between 15 and 22 July 2024. The results are representative. The statistical error of the overall results is 3.7 per cent.

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