The dark side of back-to-school: Why ExpressVPN urges parents to rethink their online privacy habits
As millions of students head back to the classroom, social media feeds are inevitably flooding with proud first-day-of-school photos. But cybersecurity experts are urging parents to rethink their posting habits, warning that innocent images are increasingly being scraped and manipulated by malicious actors.
While families are often quick to warn kids about talking to strangers and using strong passwords, adults routinely post their children's names, faces, school uniforms, and birthdays with little of the same scrutiny — a phenomenon known as sharenting.
Now, ExpressVPN — the provider behind one of the best VPNs on the market — has partnered with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) to sound the alarm on the modern risks of public photo sharing.
ExpressVPN – best easy-to-use VPN
ExpressVPN is a secure and easy-to-use VPN, making it a top choice for families and beginners. It’s also very fast — particularly on Windows thanks to the Lightway Turbo protocol. Subscriptions start at $2.49 per month on the two-year plan. As with most VPNs, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee.
The core concern revolves around the rapid rise of AI "nudification" tools. These easily accessible programs make it trivially simple for criminals to manipulate an ordinary photo.
In July, the National Crime Agency and the IWF explicitly warned that AI is being used to harvest everyday photos — including images lifted directly from public school websites — to generate child sexual abuse material.
IWF CEO Kerry Smith stressed the gravity of the situation, deeming it "deeply sad" that parents need to refrain from sharing important family moments because of the risk that those images could be exploited by criminals.
Yet, "Tackling this requires a collective response — from families, government, technology platforms and society as a whole — to better protect children online.”
ExpressVPN already collaborates with the IWF to combat this material, blocking access across its network to web domains confirmed by the IWF to host it.
However, experts argue the first line of defense happens much earlier: before a photo is ever uploaded. A school crest on a jumper, a street sign in the background, or a pet's name can all be used to identify a child, locate them, or bypass their digital security questions within hours of a post going live.
Leave No Trace investigates the companies and governments putting our digital freedom at risk — and the people fighting back.
New YouGov research commissioned by the VPN Trust Initiative reveals a stark disconnect in household privacy.
While 77% of parents worry about their child's online privacy, the worry isn't one-sided: 56% of children say they are concerned about their own privacy. Yet, the decision of what actually gets posted is largely dominated by the adults, frequently without the child's say-so.
This practice is telling, considering that, as Dr. Pete Membrey, Chief Research Officer at ExpressVPN, points out, children learn privacy from the choices the parents make.
"A parent who asks before posting, explains who will see a photo, and accepts the answer is teaching consent far better than any lecture about being careful online," said Membrey, warning that "Back to school is when the photos go up fastest, so it's the moment to set that standard."
Membrey suggests families start the school year with a collaborative conversation, answering six key questions:
"Sharing our children's milestones comes from a good place, and no parent should feel bad about it," Membrey added. "The small shift that helps is treating our own posts with the same care we'd want our children to use one day."
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
Rene Millman is a seasoned technology journalist whose work has appeared in The Guardian, the Financial Times, Computer Weekly, and IT Pro. With over two decades of experience as a reporter and editor, he specializes in making complex topics like cybersecurity, VPNs, and enterprise software accessible and engaging.
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.