I just have to sit down and take the time to actually figure it all out.

I am now going to flickr right now to do the same.

Thanks for updating us. It’s good to know there are people out there watching out for this kind of stuff.

I also hope you can keep me as a flickr contact (mangohula).

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

I’m thinking out loud here. this has been a thought I’ve had for some time, it didn’t just happen in light of what took place on Friday. that just pushed it to the forefront making me realize that I really need to make a decision.

I’m increasingly hearing stories similar to this- not of someone actually linking or using a photo, but of generational fears of online content of family member photos. a lot of ‘what ifs’ that parents and grandparents have.

if only there were a service that could link to sites where you have family photos for friends, but hide them from other viewers of your blog or myspace…

Also, yes, the picture was of a little girl. I won’t go into any further because I want to keep those details private but it wasn’t of Em.

With regard to sending the IP addresses to NBC, I say, SEND THEM. In fact, perhaps you can start your own pedophile outing website (I’ll help you) and just leave your name and pictures out of it. These people deserve whatever the hell they get.

I have a few High School yearbook photos that I wish had never been published. So, I hear ya on the consent to having your photo published issue.

I was in High School before Al Gore invented the internet. :)

Its funny… one of the issues we’ve had with pitching VCs is that people are constantly saying “well who really cares about that? why is privacy and controlling linkage between your accounts even important?”. Its not until someone has a scary experience, like yours, that it begins to make sense.

Short of starting a massive campaign of FUD to make people think about online safety (which I’m not averse to), I think the real utility of FindMeOn that people grasp linkage in general – not the safe, secure , private and open aspects.

1. I don’t have a blog, so it’s easy for me to not worry about google images.

2. Flickr stream is public because our families are NOT tech savvy at all.

3. I have my Flickr prefs set to keep all my images and my profile from being found in public searches or any public areas of the site (so they won’t appear anywhere on flickr except my stream). Even if you name them and tag them, they won’t be found.

4. Turned off permission to download.

5. Created another flickr account for commenting on traffic heavy streams.

Basically, no one can find my pictures unless I send them there, or unless someone adds me as a contact and people browse through others’ contacts. I imagine pedophiles won’t take the time to do that when they can so simply search for “bathtime fun” or something and get instant results.

But in general, I figure you can’t defeat all the bastards and pervs in the world. And just as soon as I take down all my shirtless baby pics, I’ll bump into some asshole at target who gets off on toddlers with red shoes or some obscure fetish. I won’t throw kiddo to the lions, but I won’t let the fear of lions lurking about change the way we live our life, online or off.

Good luck with your decision, guys. I’m sure it will be the right one for you and Emory.

You bring up an interesting point about posting pictures of someone who can’t give permission—I imagine we will be hearing a lot more about this in the future when some of those “famous” internet babies become teenagers.

Take care.

Thanks guys. I imagine I’m too much of a narcissist to give up the blog entirely. But photos will have to be managed somehow. I think the bigger question here (after the dust settled) is the fact that I’m posting images of a person who can’t decide for themselves and not necessarily a bunch of pedophiles in the Netherlands. I have thought about this time and time again and am really having a hard time deciding what I’ll do.

Anyway… Cyn, I think you’re right. In time when the Internet babies grow up, we’ll know more about how that shit settles. :]