What is Flickr?
Flickr is a photo-sharing community run by Yahoo!. It provides an easy way to post, organize, and share photos online with friends, family, and other groups. To learn more, please read through Flickr Help.
What are some risks to my child on Yahoo! Flickr?
Flickr members are expected to behave in ways that foster community and must abide by the Flickr Community Guidelines, as well as the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
Just as there may be risks in the community where you live, the Flickr community may pose certain risks to children. Flickr provides a number of safety features, but as a parent or caregiver, you are expected to take an active role in protecting your child online.
We suggest that you start by reviewing some general practices for online safety. In addition, please keep the following in mind when your child is using Flickr:
- Protecting personal information. Flickr is a public forum for sharing photos. If your child posts personal information pictures or videos, strangers might be able to identify him or her. (For example, posting a photo that shows a school sweatshirt).
- Harassment. If members are able to identify and contact your child (for example, through FlickrMail), he or she might be exposed to unpleasant, sexually suggestive, or abusive language.
- Mature content. In joining Flickr, all members agree to community guidelines and agree to flag their content appropriately. If a member isn't being a good citizen of Flickr, such as by not flagging their more mature content, your child may come across content that is inappropriate for him or her. If this happens, please report the abuse.
What can be done to limit these risks? Review Flickr’s safety features, learn how to report abuse, and read what parents and caregivers can do to help kids be safe on Flickr.
What safety features should I know about to help protect my child on Flickr?
Flickr provides a number of safety features. Your child should know how to do the following:
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Mark adult content. Occasionally adult content may be posted in public areas in violation of community guidelines. In these cases, click Flag this photo to the lower right-hand side of the image and choose "please review this photo's safety level" by clicking in the box provided.
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Use a screen name. A screen name will be displayed in place of your child's Flickr ID when he or she posts a message, displays a photo, or sends a FlickrMail. A screen name that does not include any personally identifiable information is best. For example, instead of "tedjones1992dallas," try something more generic like "bluesky50." A screen name can be changed as necessary to maintain privacy. Learn more about choosing an online ID.
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Use a buddy icon. A buddy icon is an image used to represent your child on Flickr. Any image can be used, but to be safe, use an image that will not identify your child to the public. For example, use a photo of a family pet. Your child can also choose to use an avatar. An avatar is a free, custom, cartoon character that can be used to represent your child on Flickr and other Yahoo! services. Using Yahoo! Avatars, your child can create a personalized avatar to use in place of a real, identifiable photo. After creating an avatar, your child can download it to your computer and then add it as a buddy icon
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Choose a Flickr web address. Create a unique, permanent web address in the form http://www.flickr.com/photos/YourAlias. An alias can be used to avoid posting any personally identifiable information.
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Manage profile privacy settings. Flickr members under the age of 18 automatically have hidden profiles.
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Mark photos private. Change the default photo privacy settings to control who can see your child’s photos. Default settings will apply to all uploaded photos. To change the level of privacy for a specific photo, click the Edit link to the right of the photo. Choose This photo is public or This photo is private to adjust the privacy setting.
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Define friends and family. Your child can invite someone to view photos and click a box to indicate This person is a friend or This person is family. Then he or she can modify the photo privacy settings to give access to friends and/or family but not to the general public.
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Limit who can comment on photos. Members can leave comments about your child's public photos unless your child changes the default privacy setting for comments. If someone leaves an inappropriate or unpleasant comment, click delete next to the comment to remove it.
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Limit who can blog photos. In order to hide the Blog This button from those your child doesn't want to have this permission, your child will need to specify who can blog on his or her public photos.
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Control access to geotagged photos. Geotagging means matching photos with locations on a map. For example, if your child takes pictures while on vacation in Maui, each photo can be placed on a map of the island to show precisely where it was taken. But if your child geotags his or her favorite places in the town where you live and makes the photos public, other members might be able to pinpoint the location. To prevent this from happening, you can modify the location privacy for photos. Flickr also offers a video introduction to geotagging.
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Participate in groups. Share photos with a group of other photographers who have similar interests, such as large metal objects, the city of Chicago, or Jack Russell Terriers. Leave a group at any point if you see something offensive.
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Create a new group. Creating a new, private group is a great way to share photos with designated friends and family. Only group members and those who have been invited will be able to view the group page. Flickr offers detailed tips for running a group.
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Block another member. If the above safety and privacy features don’t prevent inappropriate and unpleasant contact with specific members, there are several ways to block members or remove them as contacts.
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Report abuse. Report any offensive content or inappropriate contact with other members by clicking the Report Abuse link found on the bottom of every Flickr page.
How can I report problems that my child encounters on Flickr?
Flickr provides a Report Abuse link at the bottom of every page. Please click this link and complete the form if your child is exposed to obscene language, mature content, threats of physical violence, harassment, or anything else that violates the Yahoo! Terms of Service or Flickr’s Community Guidelines. Make sure to provide any specific information you have, such as the location of the offending content and the identity of the member in question.
Flickr’s customer care team receives abuse reports and takes appropriate action as necessary, which may include deactivating an abuser’s account. Reports that indicate activity involving child pornography or solicitation of a minor are dealt with promptly by Yahoo!’s legal team and, when appropriate, such incidents are reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
What can I do to help my child use Flickr in a safe manner?
Yahoo! is committed to providing a safe online experience for all users and, accordingly, complies with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Flickr offers a number of safety features to limit potential risks to members. However, protecting children online is a responsibility shared with parents, teachers, and other caregivers.
We suggest that you start by reviewing some general practices for online safety. These include safeguarding identity online, keeping passwords secret, being cautious about contact with strangers, and creating a pledge for online safety.
If your child is exposed to obscene language, mature content, threats of physical violence, harassment, or anything else that violates the Yahoo! Terms of Service or Flickr Community Guidelines, please report the abuse.
Please review the safety features on Flickr with your child and become his or her Flickr friend in order to see what photos or videos he or she is posting.
And remember, Yahoo! Kids offers all kinds of age-appropriate content and activities for children under 13.
