Why should you start using a private platform to share photos?

Only 6 per cent of photos taken are ever shared. Doesn’t sound like a lot, but let’s look at the size of the pie its cut from.

• 1.81 trillion photos are taken worldwide each year (5 billion per day). By 2030, around 2.3 trillion photos will be taken every year.
• Users share the most images on WhatsApp: 6.9 billion per day.
• 1.3 billion images are shared on Instagram daily, with about 100 million in posts and more than 1 billion on stories and chats.
• There are 136 billion images stored on Google Images. By 2030, there will be 382 billion images on stored on Google Images.
• 25 million photos are uploaded daily into Flickr, with 3.5 million shared. 10 billion photos have been shared on Flickr since its inception in 2004.
• The average user has around 2,000 photos on their smartphone, with iOS users closer to 2,400 photos and Android users around 1,900 photos.

Now ask yourself: Do I really know what happens to my photos once I’ve shared them online?

The above statistics highlight the astronomical number of photos being shared on the world wide web every minute of every day that anyone (and I mean anyone!) can view, access, take a copy of and do whatever they want with. A scary thought, hey? Especially when it comes to sharing photos of children.

Using a private photo-sharing platform.

There are now many private photo sharing platforms available. This industry kicked off when people started to become more aware of the risks in storing and sharing photos online.

Privacy needs to be of utmost importance. Today, do you really know who has access to your photos? Where they have been published or stored? Whether the likes of Instagram, Google, and Flickr share/sell your photos/data for commercial gain?

Yes, I realise the channels mentioned above are free and easily accessible, but when it comes to protecting you/your family’s digital identity, perhaps it’s time to think twice before continuing to post (or, as I commonly refer to it, “publish”) your photos directly into a public channel, and instead filter and publish from inside a private photo-sharing platform instead? Just think of the risks!

In addition to not publishing photos directly into public channels, private photo sharing platforms offer a range of benefits as they are designed with enhanced security features and customisable privacy settings, allowing you to share photos with confidence. You choose who can view and download your photos, who can access albums, whether to share with a select few, or wider circle of connections – these platforms give you the ultimate freedom and control to decide.

Here’s a quick list of other benefits:

• Privacy and Security: You have better control over who can access your photos. You can limit the audience to only a select group, family members, or specific individuals you trust. This reduces the risk of unauthorized access, privacy breaches, or the misuse of photos.
• Control Over Sharing Settings: Get granular control over your sharing settings. Decide who can view, download, or further share photos, ensuring your photos are not disseminated beyond the intended audience without your permission.
• Selective Sharing: You can be more selective about the content you share with different groups of people. Not all photos may be suitable for all audiences, and the ability to share specific photos with specific individuals can help you maintain a more tailored and appropriate sharing experience.
• No Algorithmic Exposure: Public media platforms often use algorithms to promote content to a wider audience. By using a private platform, you can avoid unintended exposure to a larger audience and maintain the security of your photos.
• Ad-Free Experience: These platforms typically do not rely on advertising revenue, leaving you with a cleaner and ad-free user experience. This enhances the enjoyment of viewing and sharing photos without distractions.
• Higher Resolution and Quality: Public platforms compress images to save server space and bandwidth. Private platforms are dedicated to photo sharing which means the original resolution and quality of your images is preserved.
• Collaborative Sharing: Facilitates private collaborative photo-sharing for groups in your community. Multiple users can contribute their photos to a shared album, preserving memories collectively.
• Back-up and Storage: Offer secure locked down storage for your photos, providing a convenient and reliable way to back up your media.
• Meaningful Sharing: Public platforms create a sense of pressure to share media with a wide audience. Private sharing fosters a relaxed and safe environment where you can share moments that hold meaning for you and your community.

Why schools should take particular care when sharing photos.

Sharing school photos fosters a positive school culture and creates lasting memories for the whole school community. It is an effective means of communication to enhance a school’s overall experience.

Schools today store tens of thousands of photos and videos each year. They do this for many reasons including to:

• Capture special moments in one’s academic journey to serve as a cherished reminder of school life, friends, teachers, achievements, and events.
• Provide parents with glimpses into their child’s school experiences as some parents may not be able to attend all school events or activities, allowing them to feel more connected and engaged.
• Foster a sense of belonging with the school and highlight a school’s unique culture and activities.
• Celebrate key milestones, achievements, and successes at the school.
• Promote upcoming events or activities via a display of visually engaging content to attract to increase broader audience participation and support.
• Stay connected with alumni by sharing photos that remind them of school days and provides a continued sense of attachment to the school.

In addition to all this, school photos stored with the appropriate permissions attached are a vital part of a school’s communication and administration strategy, and an essential part of school’s historical record.

To maximise the value of school photos and ensure student and staff identities are protected, schools must partner with a school media sharing tool designed exclusively to cater to the privacy concerns and wishes of families and enable staff to check before sharing photos.

pixevety is the leading private school photo and consent management platform, bringing endless everyday benefits to staff, student, parents, and the school community as a whole.

Here are 4 reasons why pixevety is the safer alternative for your school:

1. With 2 in 5 teachers still using their own personal devices at school, pixevety delivers a secure mobile app (available on both the Apple and Google stores) that captures and uploads photos and videos “on the go” directly into the school gallery, designed to bypass personal device storage.
2. Enterprise-level digital asset management and virtual archivist tools and technology to assist staff in organising and safely sharing content with others from a centralised private online platform environment.
3. Staff can easily search, identify, filter, and protect photos before using, sharing, or publishing, as every student’s photo consent is applied to all photos uploaded and stored in a pixevety school gallery in real-time.
4. Built on a privacy-by-design platform with privacy protections built-in from inception, all your data is stored locally, there is no advertising, and your data will never be sold or shared for commercial purposes.

Isn’t it time your school switched to using a more private photo sharing platform?