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Could your child’s first-day school photo reveal too much to fraudsters?

Could your child’s first-day school photo reveal too much to fraudsters?

Almost half of UK parents regularly sharent, but experts warn that school photos can reveal details that fraudsters could misuse.

Mother taking a photo of her schoolgirl daughter as she gets ready at home

Getty/mixetto

MadeForMums

Published: September 9, 2026 at 2:43 PM

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As children head back to school, proud parents are likely to be filling their social feeds with first-day photos. But while those snaps might seem harmless, new research suggests they can reveal far more about a child than parents realise.

Research from the University of Southampton's ProTechThem project, based on a nationally representative survey of more than 1,000 UK parents, found that 45% regularly "sharent", sharing photos, milestones and personal details about their children online.

And for 1 in 6 parents, sharing has already had a negative consequence, including privacy breaches, contact from strangers, cyberbullying and identity-related crime.

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What can a first-day school photo reveal?

A photo of your child standing proudly outside the school gates might look innocent, but the details around it can provide useful information to someone trying to piece together a child's identity.

A name displayed on a personalised sign, the school uniform, a school crest or even a street sign in the background could help reveal where a child goes to school or lives. A first-day board might also include their age or date of birth.

Ben O’Brien, Managing Director at ID Card Centre, says parents can underestimate the risk because they tend to associate online photo safety with "stranger danger", rather than identity fraud.

"People picture a predator when they think about photo safety, but another more common risk is quieter than that. A single photo can hand over a child's full name, date of birth, home area and school which is exactly the raw material used to build a fraudulent identity. It doesn't get used straight away. It sits there for years, and the family only finds out when their child applies for their first bank account, passport, or credit product and discovers someone else has already used their details."

People picture a predator when they think about photo safety, but another more common risk is quieter than that.

Ben O’Brien, Managing Director at ID Card Centre

Why children's identities can be particularly vulnerable

Children can have a "clean" identity and credit history, meaning fraudulent activity carried out in their name may not be spotted for years.

According to ID Card Centre, a combination of details such as a child's full name, date of birth, school and hometown could potentially be enough to support fraudulent applications relying on basic identity checks.

That means information shared when a child is five or six could potentially remain online and be useful to fraudsters long before they are old enough to check their own financial or identity records.

Is a "friends-only" post safe?

Not necessarily. Privacy settings can reduce who can see a post, but they cannot guarantee that information will stay within that group.

Screenshots, tagged reposts and potential data breaches can all allow content to travel beyond its original audience. The University of Southampton research also found a gap between how protected parents felt their children's information was and the risks associated with sharing it.

6 ways to make back-to-school photos safer

If you still want to capture that all-important first-day moment, there are some simple ways to reduce the amount of personal information you share.

Skip the sign or blur it. Avoid sharing full names, ages, school names or teacher details on first-day boards.
Check the background. Look out for house numbers, street signs, school crests and bus numbers that could identify where your child lives or studies.
Turn off geotagging. Check whether location information is attached to your posts or photos.
Don't assume "friends only" means completely private. Consider what you would be comfortable with being shared more widely.
Ask older children before posting. Giving them a say in what is shared can help them understand consent and control over their own image.
Keep track of what you've shared. Having a record of information that has been posted publicly could help if you ever need to investigate misuse of your child's identity.

For parents, it doesn't have to mean keeping those lovely back-to-school memories completely offline. Instead, taking a few seconds to check what's visible in the frame could help keep the focus on the milestone, rather than the personal information hidden within it.

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