Keep Your Private Photographs Private

The internet has proven itself to be a unique monster in many ways. On the one hand you can access all the information you want, and even become a modern renaissance man. You can communicate with everyone you know, and even those you do not simply through the click of a few buttons. You can keep up with your favorite celebrities, sports teams or whatever funny meme has sprouted in some corner of the internet. So why print at FEDEX/Kinkos?

What is the downside?

On the other hand, everything you post on the internet is for public consumption. You cannot control who will see it, or where it will end up. A photograph you posted two years ago, could go unseen forever or it could end up as part of a research project or on a mug thirty states away, and you will never be the wiser. The strange thing about it, is that other people using your photograph is not really illegal.

Imagine those pictures you posted online of a drunken bachelor party, or a rave in Amsterdam, that you buried in the depths of the internet with your more presentable self. Pictures of you walking your dog, or buying a latte, to cover up the pictures of you stumbling out of a bar at 5 in the morning, with sick all over the front of your clothes. You probably posted them as a joke for your close friend and followers, and that was that. Except in the internet, nothing is ever forgotten, it just sits around waiting to be dredged up by an opportunist.

How Bad Can It Really get?

Recently a so-called artist, went through several women’s highly revealing Instagram posts and took their pictures. He then altered them and apparently sold each one of them for ninety thousand dollars. So in a nutshell, he stole their very private pictures, altered them to make them his, and made a ton of money out of the venture. Turns out the copyright laws are on his side to, because his work is considered transformative.

Also recently mothers have been unpleasantly surprised, when a picture of their baby or child ended up on a mug in a store. What happens is the companies scour the internet for adorable baby pictures that their mothers posted unwittingly, and then paste them on mugs which strangers buy and use. Shocker is if you go to buy a mug, and you see a picture of your kid on the mug but you never authorized anyone to use it.

What about future employers? Turns out employers are now going through social media to get a handle on future prospects. An odd picture that you took when you were young and immature may come back to haunt you horribly when it comes between you and your dream job.

So starting today, any pictures that you feel are worth saving for the sake of posterity, but that you do not want falling into the wrong hands you should print. If you do not have a photo printer at home, go to the closest FEDEX/Kinkos outlet in your area and print out good quality pictures at very reasonable prices. You will keep your memories and not have to worry about any repercussions.