Photo App Lets Parents Share Their Kid’s Images Safely Online

firsties app

A new photo app called “Firsties” is designed to help parents safely share their kids’ photos amid rising child privacy concerns on social media.

As child’s online privacy has become an increasing concern, with parents expressing hesitation about sharing their children’s images on social media — a practice known as “sharenting.”

Firsties is a smart baby book and family photo-sharing app that aims to help families share photos safely.

Intended to reshape how new parents share images of their children online, the private photo-sharing platform allows parents to scale back on “sharenting” and keep their kids safe.

The Firsties app is by invite only, and parents have full control over who is part of their network and how they can interact with uploaded content.

Designed with safety and sharing in mind, Firsties users can control who has access to their photos, down to whether someone can like or comment on them.

Natalia Daniel and Oded Pelled, the wife and husband team that founded Firsties, were inspired to create the app to help families share photos of their young children safely.

“We spoke with many parents who said they were not posting as many photos to social media due to privacy reasons,” the couple tells news outlet KOMO TV.

“There is rising concern among parents about leaving a digital footprint on traditional social media.”

Firsties — which is available for download from Apple’s App Store and Google Play — uses AI to organize photos and also acts as a digital assistant, offering timely prompts to capture milestones like a child’s first steps or the first time they see their reflection in a mirror.

“We wanted to create a platform where parents feel in control of their memories,” Pelled says. “It’s private, secure, and tailored to their needs.”

The Average Five-Year-Old Has 1,500 Photos Online

Some studies have estimated that by 2030, nearly two-thirds of identity fraud cases affecting a young generation will have resulted from “sharenting.”

Research also shows that an average five-year-old child has already had about 1,500 pictures uploaded online without their consent by their parents.

Last year, a terrifying ad campaign, created by telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom, has gone viral for its dark warning of the potentially devastating consequences of parents posting photos of their children online.

A police force in India also made an AI-generated campaign advising parents not to be a “sharent.”

PetaPixel also reported on how Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg caused a stir across social media when he posted a family portrait on Instagram that obscured the faces of his two older children with emojis. Meanwhile, his infant’s face was not covered in the photograph.

It revealed Zuckerberg’s awareness that his elder children’s faces are developed enough to become recognizable by strangers online and by facial recognition software.


Image credits: Header photo licensed via Firsties.

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