creepy stuff

[shepp99]

So I read Jan's blog yesterday and she really opened my eyes about the perverts on the internet. I knew they were out there, but since joining TDC community, it's felt sheltered and safe! She mentioned that she's been getting a lot of image searches on her blog, but for her girls. And the search terms were pretty perverted. I just started up my own blog about 2 weeks ago, and have tried to limit what I put out there, but I am guilty of putting up pictures of my son. Now, this scares me. I'm just curious if anyone has any sorta protection measures they use that I haven't thought of. And then I realized that if some creep just browses through my gallery, they have a TON of information about me and my family! Any thoughts or suggestions?

[mamakimberly]

ugh, that is so yucky!!!!! :(

i had some pics of my dd's in diapers when we cloth diapered and there was a whole rash of diapering pics stolen from my cloth diaper board and put on **** sites. talk about vomitocious!!! i was ILL over it :(

[Valgal]

OMG! How do you know if someone is pulling up your site under such a search? I put pictures of my kids up there ALL the time.

[scrappinmichele]

That's what I want to know too...how did you find out what search terms are being used?

[sinead]

Jan said that she always checks her comments for Google searches (I'm sure she could explain more). It creeped me out, too. :( Why is there so much ickiness out there?!

[micmau]

Jan...where are u? Help us chicks out so we can do the same thing! Ugh, this is just nasty and breaks my heart.

[Laura_A]

With Typepad you can go to "visitors stats and referrers" and it will show you where people have come from to see your blog. If there is a google or yahoo search, you can click on it to see the details. Then, in the upper right corner click on "image results". This will tell you what key words they used for their search and what images came up using them.

It's scary for sure and will definitley have me thinking twice before I put pics of my girls up.

[shepp99]

someone mentioned in jan's comments that they protected their photos from being right clicked so people can't select "save image as" and save it to their computer. anyone know how to do that?

[AndreaBurns]

One thing I do is watermark ALL of my photos. If you visit my blog, all of them have my logo on them.

Another thing I do is try not to use words that might attract perv losers. For instance when I was talking about Po-tty tr-aining my boy, I would write p.e.e like that or what not.

Its all about safety. I use blogpot and am not sure about stats and such like the one Jan can see, but there are some precautions you can try! :)

HTH!

[Valgal]

Andrea, all good ideas. I was wondering why a lot of people watermark their photos, even if they're not photo-shoot type portraits (ie. snapshot of your kids at the park), now I know. it makes a lot of sense... as does the careful typing of the words.

you are a smarty pants, that's for sure.

[KimberlyGiarrusso]

OOOOOH didn't get that watermark concept either! Goooooood IDEA!

[PixelStix]

From my research, I've found that there is not much "protection" when it comes to your web content. DH has our family site somehow set up so that it can't be indexed by search engines, but this type of security doesn't do any good if you post the link to your site/ blog anywhere on the web, since the link will be indexed. It's the reason that people don't put their email addresses on forums or sites to keep from getting junk mail (automated programs collect email addresses from webpages.)

Disabling right-click will usually disable ALL right-clicking on your site, which is annoying, especially for people using IE with tabs. Irregardless of this, it doesn't completely protect you because someone could just copy your whole page and get the content anyway. Watermarking is one of the best ideas out there, as far as your photos go, as long as it's a good watermark. A great way is just to watermark with your URL. Just make sure you take it across the main part of the picture (make it opaque). We all know what will and will not be able to be easily photoshopped out. A little typed text in the corner or to the side of your subject can just be cropped/ ps'd out.

Right now, I'm just keeping my personal newsy stuff and kids' photos on a private blog that's only viewable by invited readers. My friends and family are the only ones that care about that stuff anyway... LOL. You just never know who's reading...

You just have to be careful of WHAT you're sharing, and remember you're potentially sharing it with the public in general.

[ajoyfulheart]

The thing is, someone can still come in and highlight your picture then Ctrl C and Ctrl V it to copy it and paste it into a document on their end. They can also take a screen shot of your page and crop the photo out that way, if they are really desperate and freakish :(

I recommend using Site Meter (http://www.sitemeter.com) and placing it on your blog. You can see the referrals and the freaky Google searches that way. You can also see what page the entered and left through...how long they were on your site...stuff like that. I have at the bottom of my website (check the siggy) if y'all want to click on it and see an example :) It is the small, colorful box.

[thequeenofquirk]

hey ladies!
sorry i'm late!
if you have a typepad blog, then do just what laura said. i was showing her how to check the other night and thankfully nothing icky showed up on HER blog! :)
in all honesty though, this has us really creeped out and my blog will be private now. it will be password protected and hopefully that will keep people out. i hate to do it, but i have to protect my kids. of course any of my friends can come and hang out...i just don't want my kiddos to be the first thing that pops up in google when someone types in my name.

however, i will have a public blog in the future...just have to set that up.

and sinead...you silly bonker bean! of course you're in the club! (((HUGS)))

my advice: watch what you say very closely. even innocent wording (taken out of context) and generic phrases are mixed together in order to produce some scary results. :(

[jennamelia]

Off to site meter... thanks Jenn. And thanks Jan for getting us all started thinking about this. It just curls my toes. YUK. I'll miss your blog but you're making a smart decision. :)

[scrappinmichele]

Thanks for all the tips. and I wondered about the watermarks too and I'm going to start doing that now I think. I didn't really think about the innocent words like when you're potty training and pics of your kids in diapers. MAN! a lot of sickos out there. Thanks again ladies cuz I'm going to be careful from now on.....hmmmm!!

[meems]

Yes that kind of stuff creeps my out. but as for pics, any sicko could be taking pics of your kids any time they are out. I worry more about the people around me IRL. I agree you have to choose your words wisely and be careful of what info you give out.

at one of my old blogs someone left a very creepy yucky random comment. :angry_smi I'm really hoping it was some automated thing.

I had my blog at a very simple url. I just moved it to make it less likely for someone to stumble upon randomly.

[FeeJardine]

Gosh there really are some perverts - you know I knew there were people like this around but I guess I have become really complacent with the whole issue. I have to be a LOT more vigilant in what I post and how I use my photos. Thanks for the reminder Jan and good advice girls!

Fee :)

[meems]

I wonder, do you guys think it would help to truncate posts that have pics? So that someone would have to click to see the whole post with pics?

I'm just wondering if someone went to a blog and just saw that it was just text they would move on . . . or do people come to blogs through search engines? in which case, I guess it wouldn't matter . . . ?

[sinead]

Jan, you crack me up. I love "bonker bean"...I'll have to use that!

I guess it makes it better that I don't post on my blog regularly, huh? :tongwink: j/k This is icky and a serious issue. Why are there so many weirdos out there in the world?

[Rynonut Mom]

Had to come back and bump this.
I had asked forever ago and found out how to right click protect my photos (http://www.thedigichick.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7288), but learned months ago that it didn't really protect them (just huge bummer). I have worried since day one about my photos of my boys and that some sicko would use them. I've had one hit that was creepy about boys and pool parties. *ick* I've been using blogpatrol to track my stats, but the last month or so, they are not showing me anything but counts (which is the last thing I really wanted it for) for some reason with the site. I just went tonight and added two more trackers on there so I can see if there are any prev googles going on.
I know that I have alot of info out there on my family and I know it wouldn't be hard to find us IRL. That does really scare me. I go back and forth about whether to leave it all alone or really really worry about it...

[InLoveWithDOTS]

I try not to get too freaked out. Being a reunited adult adoptee, I know EXACTLY how easy it is to find someone if you want to, especially with the resources on the internet. I refuse to live my life in a bubble.

[Charla]

Rachael, you're right. It's so hard to draw the line between being paranoid and overly protective, and realizing that people can find things no matter how well you "protect" them. I go back and forth about the whole thing!

[taylormom]

Michelle, thanks for sharing that right-click protection stuff. I totally missed that thread. I just started a family blog a couple of weeks ago that has a ton of pics of my kids. I was thinking of making it private since it's mainly for family and friends that live far away from us. But I think I'll try all these other protective means first. Thanks again for sharing!

[meems]

I go back and forth too, sometimes in the same minute.

The sites that for me are the hardest to capture content from are flash sites.

But even in forums we give out lots of info and who is to know who is really here or if we are who we really say we are?

[Charla]

I've considered blocking right-clicking, but I use mouse gestures (right-left backs up a page) so I hate when I get that error message. Besides, it still doesn't keep them from using "print screen." I like Andrea's idea of using watermarks.

[shepp99]

I've started using watermarks on my photos on my blog and am just generally trying to be aware of what info I put out into cyberspace. I considered trying to use something to track search stats, but then decided that I would really rather not know. I do plan to try the right-click protection, tho. And just in case someone tries to find us IRL, I know karate! :)

[Nathalie]

Our blog is especially for friends and family in Germany and my inlaws print the pictures out, so I can't use a watermark. And I love meeting new people and I hope that people find it helpfull to read about our big move, so I don't want to make it private. I do try to put "save" photos online only.

Don't know how law about that is for you girls, but in Germany you have to provide your contact details and your real name in the imprint, preferably your complete address :-(

[d2vasquez]

wow I missed this thread altogether.......wow......I can't believe the sick people out there....thanks for all the wonderful ideas here!

[thequeenofquirk]

yeah i'm totally not trying to be paranoid. but the image searches that my kiddos were coming up in were just turning my stomach. it was that bad.
and i know i can't totally shield my family, but i can limit their exposure on the net. they don't have a choice, so it's better for me to show their photos to just my family and friends i trust. :)
hope nobody thinks i'm being super paranoid LOL

[Deena]

I just wanted to add for those of you who use blogger, and don't want to switch to a paid provider like typepad, wordpress is free, and you can see your stats like you do on typepad, that is one reason why i love it so much more than blogger :)

I typically don't have any search engine referrers LOL But then again i think i have mine set up so it isnt listed or something, im not real sure... I just know that lil box is always empty haha