Profile Pics on 7Cups - Staying Safe Online

@MistyMagic very enlightening thank you for sharing this

@MistyMagic
Excellent post! Very useful information. Thank you, Misty!

@MistyMagic I didn't know people can track you down :O am I old or what :O thank you for this insight 💓

If you take a picture on a device that has GPS (a device like a phone that knows where it is on a map), then there's an option to record the map coordinates of place where the picture was taken. When you upload the picture to the Internet, the map coordinates might get uploaded too, depending on various settings. And then anyone who sees the picture can extract the map coordinates and locate the place.

Ideally, 7 Cups should remove any information of this kind from profile images, but I haven't checked to see whether it does.

Also, if you use a profile image that's also posted somewhere else on the Internet, there's a way to search the Internet and discover that other copy of the image. For example, if your 7 Cups profile image also appears on the website of the church you attend, then someone might be able to use the image to find the church.

However, these are only theoretical risks. Note that all our therapists at 7 Cups are required to publish photos of themselves here, and we don't hear of terrible things happening to them as a result.

I think there's definitely a downside to using technology to share information about ourselves, but there's also definitely a downside to being isolated and anxious. I'm not sure where it's best to draw the line.

@Rivercat22

Charlie

@MistyMagic Thank you for this amazing post

@MistyMagic

Thank you very much .very much needed post and everyone should ponder on this .

Very informative post! Thank you :)

@MistyMagic another thing to keep in mind is being careful uploading and sharing pictures in the forums using image hosting sites ive noticed a popular website that people use to share pictures is imgur an alternative to imgur is a free image hosting site called unsee they have a lot of identity protection for pictures including the ability to automatically delete after the first view or after a select time period the its the safest free image hosting site online so hopefully more people use it insteads of imgur or imagebb exc.

> https://unsee.cc

unsee privacy policy > https://unsee.cc/privacy.html

also when taking a picture with a device that has a GPS make sure the location is turned off and GPS doesnt have access to the app your using to take pictures or your camera so turn off location in settings and dont allow access and yes 7cups should immediately remove map coordinates from profile pictures is it possible to remove map coordinates from profile pictures or make it impossible to extract map coordinates if pictures have them ? if its possible that should really be top priority having a map to someones exact location thats a pretty big security threat i think so thats something that needs to be done here at 7cups asap

Very good post, thank you for sharing!

Stay safe!

Hey @MistyMagic

Thank you for the information on this post, its very useful to know and understand! I think there are many benefits and disadvantages, or every action we take on this site - and although its best to be aware of the possible risks, it shouldn't stop us from completing these activities all together.

For example, if at every sign of risk, I decided to back away - I wouldn't have done half of the things I've done at 7 Cups, wouldn't be in half of the roles I am in now and the risks offline would have affected my life even more. (not going outside my house, not going to university, certainly wouldn't be skydiving for charity). The truth is, we need to weigh these risks up, obviously we need to be aware of the possible risks - but we also need to realize and understand that we shouldn't stop living because of the unlikely change of this happening.

On 7 Cups, I have used a picture of myself for over a year - after changing from having a profile picture that had no relation to who I was. It was something I decided to do, after I was getting a few people question if I was real, or how I could possibly understand if I was 'a robot'. Of course, this was also something I wanted to do for myself - I wanted people to know that I was an actual person behind the screen, and I honestly think it has helped with people actually recognizing me as a human.

This hasn't been a smooth ride, and being a moderator - I have gotten hate directed at my appearance, as those individuals were frustrated at my badge, although overtime of mod hate, I have become less affected by the words said, as it is an everyday experience. Now, if you are sensitive than maybe this wouldn't be the best option for you. I know that for me, after a particularly bad experience - I have decided that I shall take off my full face picture, for a while until I'm in a stronger mindframe. But that is something that everybody should have a choice to do.

With the location, although the risk is there - I truly believe that this isn't an everyday experience, and that as long as we are careful with the pictures uploaded this should not stop us from posting pictures if we have a desire to, or think that it may make the experience more personal. Of course, there is always the risk of someone identifying us through our pictures - and I think that is something to be aware of, it all really depends on the person whether this is a deal breaker or not.

As always, Social Media has positive uses, and negative uses - and although its good to be aware of the negative sides, we should also remember that the majority of the time it is a positive experience, and these risks rarely come up. It can be worrying when we see posts like this, and spreading awareness is certainly the way forward - but it also shouldn't stop you from experiencing the positives of the site!

Emma

here is a free online tool to view and remove exif date (GPS coordinates attached to the picture) to remove this data drom any picture i just checked my profile picture i was a little worried because i did take it with a phone that has a GPS on it but it turns out my location wasnt attached to it so if you choose to have a profile picture of any picture you took with a device with GPS or share any picture with someone and your not sure if there is info attached to it you can check and see and remove it here > http://www.verexif.com/en/

so if your not sure about your profile picture i would suggest you take it off check it to make sure its clean if its not clean it and then upload it again as your profile picture and if you posted a link a picture in a forum for everyone and discover that picture has info on it you can message an editor to have the link removed https://bit.ly/2t25ord

Thank you for sharing these useful resources!
@jennysunrise8

Be the change you wish to see in the world.

Thank you for sharing!! @jennysunrise8

@MistyMagic

Thank you for sharing! This is very important :)

@MistyMagic Wonderful information. Everyone must read this and follow it. This is not just for 7Cups , but for all other websites too. Stalkers and everywhere. and the more we make our personal life public, the more we are vulnerable. So let's take some time to think before posting anything anywhere.

Once again thanks for taking your time and writing this post

@MistyMagic THIS should be compulsory reading for everyone here. Thanks, MistyMagic!

When is this going to be changed?:

"Please choose a head shot (picture of your face), nature scene, art/symbol/image (i.e, Hope), or animal. Please do not include pictures of famous people, sexually suggestive pics, or cartoon pics. You must be fully clothed in your picture. The goal of the picture is to express warmth, compassion, and kindness. Images must be in JPG, GIF or PNG format and less than 5MB. Thank you!"

Thanks everyone for sharing your views!

I am really pleased so many of you have taken the time to pm me and respond here, so thank-you.

I was going to add the exact wording that our new listeners face when they first join because it suggests using a face pic, as I feel that maybe for new joiners isn't that really a little irresponsible?

I realise that 7Cups couldn't add a disclaimer underneath either, although there are other disclaimers around.

I am not scaremongering.

These problems are real.

They exist.

They happen every week here.

I am just trying to provide information about how everyone, but importantly how new listeners and new members can stay safer online. My personal view is that perhaps only admins and ambassadors should be able to have face shots. Or maybe those that have been here a long time and are strong enough and experienced enough. After all, we are supposed to be anonymous aren't we?

But I am not talking about hiding, or not taking a risk. I am talking about taking responsibility for your own safety online!

Let's have a look at a few real experiences -

- Some of the people I talk to here are being hurt badly. They use 7Cups to seek support anonymously. Sometimes the person that is hurting them takes their phone and then finds their 7Cups account and then MistyMagic. Why would I want my picture giving them a clue to who I am or what I am or where I am?

- A new member is getting harassed because her old boyfriend tracked her down by searching where her pictures were being used.

- A new listener gets accused of being robotic and not real so she adds a picture. Now she gets unwanted sexual conversations, and ends up crying and leaves in distress.

But I am trying to enlighten, not dishearten.

Those of us that have been at 7Cups any length of time will have come across these problems and will have already made an informed decision.

So if I have helped just one person stop and think, or maybe spread this information about being safer online then I feel that will have done a good job.

Listening .... One Step At A Time

This. 100 times this.

If you don't want to hide, then don't hide. But know that these problems exist.

Staying safe is always an option. And it is possible to help people without showing your face. Of course, you can show your face if you want! But at your own risk. It's crucial that you have really strong boundaries and self-confidence to deal with possible issues. Some listeners need more experience and to grow a thicker skin to deal with harassment and unwanted sex chat solicitations.

And the "if you don't have a photo, you're a robot" argument is more than invalid. It's mind-boggling how easy it is to create spam and bot accounts with photos of real people found on Google. And not only on 7 Cups, it's everywhere in social media. It's a global issue, the Internet is changing, it's changing fast. So it's important to protect ourselves, that's all.
If you're consistent, professional and kind, people who are here because they truly need emotional support will trust you and confide in you. And that's all that matters.

Stay safe!

Be the change you wish to see in the world.

Hey @MistyMagic

I think you have valid points here, and also points that I respectfully disagree with. I love the fact we are spreading awareness about these subjects, that may otherwise go unknown. It is always great to be informed, so that we can make an informed decision rather than acting before we think.

With only admins and ambassadors having access to putting their pictures on their profile, I respectfully disagree - I feel like much like everywhere else on the internet, it is up to us to have the choice. Of course, there are still boundaries within this, and if there's anything inappropriate than i'm sure our wonderful team on here would be able to figure out a solution.

I personally think that everybody should have the choice on whether or not they use an actual picture, or one they find online. As Charlie mentioned above, I truly believe that the risk of being traced is very low - and that there are much higher risks. Everything we do online, can be traced if somebody wished to and had resources - so although we may feel like our profile picture has a lot to do with it, it really isn't that bad. I think it's also important to remember what everybody says, if you don't want others to know its best not to put it on social media. Social Media is not private. Sure, we are on an anonymous site, but everything can be traced back to us - through out IP Address, Emails, Names, there is lots of ways. So sure, not everybody knows this information and we can still maintain our safety but if we are that worried about somebody finding out, than I think it's more than just a profile picture.

I also think it's different, in my opinion, for members and listeners. I would never place a picture of myself on my member account, because I place personal information on there - now I am aware that regardless of whether I post a picture or not, people could still trace me, but at the end of the day I like knowing that not everyone would know (i.e other listeners). However, on my listener account I would never publish anything that I would hate people seeing. I see the Listeners Role, as a more professional role and although I am myself, I am a restricted version of myself and the information I share usually is shared with those around me in my life, or if not - could easily be shared with a conversation.

Once again, I don't think it necessarily is all about a profile picture in this instance. Of course, its great to know the dangers but 7 Cups Profile's have the same dangers as all other Public Social Media Profiles, therefore I personally don't see this as a huge risk, rather knowing this information can help me make an informed decision and make sure that I am aware of the possible consequences.

Those situations are extreme, and sadly do happen. I think most people are aware of the dangers. I can say, that it is only the minority of the time - after having my profile picture as myself for a year, I never got a sexual conversation. However, before I did I had got 3, it is just pure coincidence, that I happened to pick up those chats. They sadly happen, and are not okay - but that is also why we have Listeners in LSR and TL who are here to support you, and guide you if you ever need help!

I think that is always good to be informed - but I also don't think that an unbalanced argument does anybody any favours, I know this debate has often been going round my head, and I've eventually found in my case that I felt comfortable enough, and that the positives of having a little personalisation outweighed the negatives. Personally for me, I like having a picture that represent me, rather than just an animal - it allows people to see me, it allows selfishly makes me feel a little bit like I've accomplished something? When I had a general picture, I felt like I tended to dissociate my 7 Cups profile, to myself and I never felt able to celebrate my achievements on here. It was a pretty personal thing, and I know not everyone feels this way - in fact I may be the only one. But having a more relative picture, I was able to connect those two sides of myself. Even when I am down, and my brain dismisses everything, I am reminded that there are things I've done in the past that have been better :3

Again, each to their own - I think having all the information about Positives and Negatives will allow people to make the best decision for them! It's all about how you feel, and how you feel you will be able to manage the results of having a picture.

Emma

I agree this should be updated.
@Phthalo

Be the change you wish to see in the world.

@Blaze i think it should be changed also instead of saying what it should be just say what it should not be take out the beginning where it says " Please choose a head shot (picture of your face), nmbol/image (i.e, Hope), or animal. " and just say what the picture should not be ... " should not be a picture of a famous person a cartoon character .... ( and then there is room to add " if its a photo make sure its not located anywhere else on the internet " or "should not be a photo located anywhere else online" ) and really before anyone can add a picture even a picture of their cat i think they should read this thread so they can make an informed decision and know the risks would it be so difficut to frovide a link to this thread in settings or a link to some info page with this information on it and include something about it in new listener training? and more visable to members maybe this info should be in newbie hub also ( i started a thread in teen zone yesterday talking about this and linking to this thread) it can be more visible it is important that everyone reads this

Oh yes, cats. I didn't think of that. A picture of your cat can be traced in the same way as any other picture, theoretically.

I find it hard to believe, however, that the risk of having a picture of yourself or your cat traced is the kind of risk we should be taking too seriously. We deliberately back away from trying to prevent suicide, while we take steps to address the issue of cat photo tracing. Really?

@jennysunrise8

Charlie

@RarelyCharlie good point 7cups could become a place where people can get crisis counceling from some listeners and there could be a referral service to direct people to specific listeners on 7cups who are trained in that and that would be really good if 7cups did do that but i think their too busy and distracted with sanitizing 7cups of all things potentially upsetting or offensive to anyone and calling it safety than deal with genuine safety for people that can save their lives or prevent them from harming themselves or other people (another thing we cannot try to prevent and just must let them do)

When I said it should be updated, I meant that pictures of cartoons, animals, and even celebrities are allowed. What isn't allowed is celebrity impersonators, partial or full frontal nudity. People should avoid sharing photos of themselves, but mostly photos that are also on social media, or similar to what can be found on their social media accounts. Also, sharing photos that show part of your household, neighbourhood or famous surroundings (like, imagine, if I share a photo of a very particular lake near my home, for example), that's what things get very dangerous, and that's where people should be very mindful.

If someone is so dedicated as to locate a person based on GPS coordinates hidden in code, then it's not even a 7 Cups issue, it's a police case. Most stalkers won't go that far. But if someone does go that far, please report it to the police. I mean...that's not just a bored person doing "Facebook stalking", it's really dangerous stuff we're talking about.
@jennysunrise8

Be the change you wish to see in the world.

@Blaze well how would someone know if another person is getting the GPS info from pics its unlikely i think that the person doing it would inform the person that its being done and who they are and give enough info about themself to the person so they can contact police i think the person getting the GPS info would just do it and not let the person know it would be a good idea for people to not have that info on their pics people cant count on stalkers being polite and letting they know their doing it people have to look out for themselves

Read this 🌺 Thanks misty 💕 Good points and it's all depends on us to be safe!

Thanks Miera and thanks for participating in the discussion today with some great input!

@MieraCurie

Listening .... One Step At A Time

@MistyMagic

Misty That was an excellent post and very vey imformative

thanks KC!

@KarrotCake

Listening .... One Step At A Time

@MistyMagic Wonderful, well organized post! It is outstanding how much of an influence profile pictures/ display pictures can have especially in regards to internet safety. I sadly realized that the hard way when I first joined 7Cups. Thanks for sharing, and keep up the great work! :)

Fantastic post. Loving his much conversation it

Yes! and it was a wonderful day yesterday too, it shows how much people want to learn about ways to stay safer online!

@Heather225 <~~~ had to add that again, glad you liked the tuna pics

Listening .... One Step At A Time

@MistyMagic Thanks for this article. In addition to what you wrote, I think listeners should have the choice to not display the country that they are from.

@MistyMagic

Thanks for this post! There was a listener whose profile pic was a pic of cleavage...and the profile was around for several days! Haven't seen it lately though.

Sometimes others think we can help others with a sexual inducement to have them open up. I do not agree with that approach but maybe reach out to that person and tell your support is based on your presence not your body. Your beautiful but rather see you different then just your chest because I know there is more to you..

@MistyMagic

Very useful... I have completed changed my mind about using a profile picture shoing myself :(

@MistyMagic

Very interesting!! Thanks so much for this info :)

@MistyMagic thank you for this useful information regarding how to set the profile picture. :)

@mistymagic,

thank you so much for this wonderful information! I’m new to the site and I’m exploring everything here at 7 cups I never though that putting a profile picture of yourself could be so dangerous. This is why I don’t put pictures of myself in any social media I just post pictures from the internet that have flowers or hearts on them. I didn’t even know that people could be that interested in going that deep and investigate a internet picture. I’m not even sure if I have or not a picture of anything from the internet like I said I been trying to upload one but don’t see anything that I actually have. But after seeing this I will be extra careful and it’s very important to be extra careful. The other day I’m not going to say name or anything I was actually talking to a listener that came a cross with me and we start talking and everything that person seem kind and nice so I had confidence since I taught it’s 7 cups and he’s a listener so what could go wrong. Well I was wrong as we started talking he ended up saying to me if I had another social media so we can talk and well I actually fall for it so I did add him outside 7 cups as a friend. And what did this person do after I added them they started talking to me in a way that I didn’t like so i immediately unfriended that person and block him. I wanted to report that account to 7 cups with I was not able to fully think at that moment. I was i don’t even think they are going to listen to me so I just left it alone. Now I feel very dumb because even though it’s a site to help one another we still need to be extra careful and we might be having scammers between us. So please people if you read my posting be extra careful with the listeners in here to some of them you reach out to are not what you expect and they end up hurting you like they did to me. :(