What Big Tech’s AI obsession means for your kids’ photos

As parents, we’re already on high alert when it comes to our children’s safety online. From managing screen time to avoiding oversharing on social media to restricting the content they can access, protecting our kids in the digital world can feel like a full-time job at times.

But while many of us are so careful about what we share, there’s a quiet risk many of us may not have considered - how we actually store our family’s photos. 

The first birthday party album saved in your drive. The bathtime snapshots uploaded to your cloud account. The daily photos auto-backed up from your phone while you sleep. You might assume these are private, after all - you didn’t post them online. 

But the reality is that many Big Tech platforms are now using stored photos - not just shared ones - to train artificial intelligence models. And it’s happening without most people even realising. 

You and your child’s data may be at risk

Several major tech companies, including Meta and Google, now include terms in their privacy policies that allow them to analyse or scan user-uploaded content.

That means images stored in services like Google Drive can be used to train AI models, improve facial recognition and build more powerful algorithms. 

With that said, some companies are taking it further. As recently as June this year, Meta began prompting Facebook users to consent to a new feature that will allow the platform to automatically upload media from your phone’s camera roll to its cloud servers, based on criteria like time, location, or content type - often without an obvious prompt.

With end-to-end encryption, Proton Drive has been designed to keep your data safe

There are also concerns around Google's Gemini and Android System Safetycore app, which has reportedly been installed on Android 9+ devices without clear user consent. 

While it's said to support safety functions like content filtering, the lack of transparency has raised questions about whether the app may be scanning user media - including your camera roll - without you knowing.

Whether Big Tech is getting your photos from your public profile(s), your cloud storage or your camera roll itself, the photos they can access include valuable metadata. Picture metadata is data embedded within an image file that provides information about the image itself, like camera settings, date and time of creation and location. This metadata could reveal where your child goes to school, your home address, your routines, or even help recreate your child’s face in high detail.

This data isn’t just used to personalise your experience, either. It can be used to fuel ad targeting systems (and therefore profit off your data), power AI chatbots (like Google’s Gemini) and even help build predictive technology. And in most cases, you’ll never have given explicit permission for your child’s image (or your own, for that matter) to be part of it. 

According to a Proton survey with Professor Carsten Maple, Director of Cyber Security Research at the University of Warwick, today’s AI tools need just 20 images to create a realistic profile of someone - or a lifelike, synthetic 30-second video. 

It’s a stark reminder for parents that once your child’s image is online, it can be replicated, manipulated and reused - possibly forever.

Why “I don’t post my kids online” may no longer be enough

Many parents now practise ‘sharenting minimalism’. They choose not to post their children’s faces online, or use emojis or stickers to protect their child’s identity. It feels like the safest thing to do. 

But even if you never share your child’s image publicly, storing it with cloud services that scan files for AI or advertising purposes may still expose your child’s data - without your knowledge or consent.

And the problem is that most platforms don’t make this easy to understand. Buried in the small print, these terms are hard to find and even harder to opt out of, especially in the UK. 

What laws are in place to protect children’s online privacy in the UK?

There are some legal protections, but they’re limited - and rapidly being outpaced by AI development. For example:

• The UK GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and the Data Protection Act 2018 offer some level of protection for children’s data. Organisations must have a lawful basis to process personal data - including photos - and must be transparent about how it’s used. 

• There’s also The Children’s Code (also known as the Age Appropriate Design Code) launched in 2021 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). This sets out expectations for online services likely to be accessed by children. It requires providers to minimise data collection, avoid nudging children to share personal data, and turn privacy settings to high by default.

That said, there is a major gap when it comes to how cloud storage services use and scan your data - especially for AI training. These laws don’t yet fully account for the ways AI is being trained using stored content. 

And despite calls for tighter regulation, the UK currently has no specific laws banning the use of children's photos to train AI models if the data was “consented to” via terms and conditions - no matter how hidden that consent might have been.

Protect your memories (and your child’s data) easily with Proton Drive

Parents don’t know what they’ve agreed to

And that’s the crux of it: most parents don’t realise they’ve given permission. 

Big Tech’s terms are vague and lengthy, often blending AI model training with ‘service improvement’ or ‘product development’. 

What sounds like routine tech upgrades might actually mean your child’s photos are being scanned for facial recognition data or used to help generate synthetic content.

What’s more, parents rarely get a clear way to opt out - especially in the UK, where data privacy laws are weaker than in places like the EU. And if your children are old enough to have devices of their own, they may be signing away their own privacy without even realising it.

What’s the alternative? How Proton Drive protects your family

Proton Drive is a cloud storage app that has been designed for people who care about digital privacy. It’s built differently, offering end-to-end encryption by default, meaning only you can access your photos. Not advertisers. Not algorithms. Not even Proton. 

Unlike mainstream providers - Dropbox, iCloud, OneDrive, Google Drive - Proton Drive doesn’t scan, monetise or use your files to train AI. Metadata (like where a photo was taken - ie your child’s school or your home - or when) stays completely private, too. 

As Nouha Chhih, Head of Growth at Proton Drive, puts it: “Parenting is hard enough - protecting your family’s photos shouldn’t be. At Proton Drive, we're committed to helping parents understand the hidden risks of storing photos online, so you can make informed choices about your family’s digital privacy. Your kids' photos and videos stay truly private - exactly as they should be.”

As a result, you can safely store family memories, manage them easily and share them on your own terms, without sacrificing control. 

Here’s what makes Proton Drive different: 

• End-to-end encrypted: Only you can view your files.

• No AI training or content scanning: Your child’s face and data remain private.

• No ads, no selling, no profiling: Proton doesn’t profit from your data and is owned by the non-profit Proton Foundation whose sole mission is to advance privacy and freedom.

• Based in Switzerland: Protected by some of the world’s strictest privacy laws.

• Family-safe sharing: Easily share photos and how long for.

About Proton Drive

Proton was born out of a desire to build an internet that puts people before profits, create a world where everyone is in control of their digital lives, and make digital freedom a reality.

In this digital-first world, you can communicate with whomever you want, protect your data and identity, avoid having your data sold, and safeguard against cybercrime.

About the author

Rebecca Roberts is a writer, editor, and content marketing expert hailing from Leeds. Here at Mumsnet, she creates content that’s designed to make life easier for parents. Having birthed two children just 15 months apart, she knows all too well the worries we parents have about protecting our children’s data and privacy online. 

Beyond her role as an editor here at Mumsnet, Rebecca can be found balancing life as a working mum of two toddlers and when she’s not at her desk, you’ll likely find her at a local playgroup, in a nearby coffee shop, or walking the dog.