Blog

April 2026

We must Stop Posting Pictures of Children on X (Twitter)

For over a decade I have advocated for the privacy of our children.  I advised those who asked that Twitter/X was NOT a place to do it.  Twitter/X is about maximum reach and public engagement – share with as many as possible.  Very few have Private accounts, which defeats the purpose of being on Twitter/X, unless you are well established and don’t seek follows, likes and comments.

Some schools and educators have posted classroom photos, school event videos, and field trip images on personal (teacher) accounts and some on school created accounts (usually run the school Principal).   While the intent may be positive, these actions create permanent privacy risks that cannot easily be undone.

I can’t fix the past, but I can protect the future.

I encourage every owner of an account that has posted pictures/videos of children to

  1. Delete the account completely, and start fresh
  2. If you want to keep your account (and your username) – delete every photo/video individually.
  3. Until your task is complete, make your account Private.

 

Background:

  • GROK is AI. GROK is embedded into X. You can naturally assume that the GROK LLM is being trained on the images that are uploaded**.  The parents of those children in the classroom did not consent to training any LLM  with their child’s image.  If you have a media release form that does incorporate that, please share it with me.
  • GROK and CSAM. A simple google search will show you how GROK has been used to create CSAM (they have since corrected much of it – albeit at a cost).  They made news globally about this horrific ability going unchecked.
  • If an X user a blue checkmark next their username (a monthly premium), you can simply tell GROK to change the appearance/clothing of a picture posted to a public X account. It’s all over X.  Troll accounts see a photo of kids, and reply to the post with instructions. Within seconds, the new images appear as a new X post (on the trolls account). If the original poster takes down the original image – it’s already too late!
  • If you have the blue checkmark, you can ask GROK to remove any smiley face on a photo posted to X.  Using its’ training, GROK will create what it believes the child looks like. Disturbing

 

** I said “naturally assume”?  I meant that as a cyber educator.  Now read what GROK has to say when asked the question:

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Here’s a clear breakdown based on xAI’s official policies and public statements (as of early 2026):

1. Public X Posts and Data

  • X (the platform) shares public posts — including any images attached to public tweets — with xAI by default.
  • This data (posts, metadata, engagements, profiles, etc.) is used to train and fine-tune Grok and other xAI models.
  • Images in public X posts can therefore indirectly contribute to training, especially for multimodal capabilities (like understanding or generating images).
  • xAI has faced scrutiny over data practices (e.g., default opt-in for X data, image-editing controversies), so always check your settings in the Grok app/website and X account. If privacy is a big concern, opt out where possible, avoid uploading sensitive images, and review the latest at x.ai/legal (Privacy Policy, Terms, FAQs). Policies can evolve, but as of now, direct user-uploaded images aren’t a default training feedstock the way public posts are.

 

Full disclosure: Upon further questioning, GROK then states you can opt out

“Users can opt out via X settings (under Privacy & Safety → Grok → uncheck the data-sharing box for training).”

The counter argument is: “Ok,  moving forward we will opt-out” – so in theory each picture/video is not helping train GROK.

My position would be: How do you deal with the people who can manipulate the photo (blue checkmark), use social engineering (school, class, teacher name, etc), and the ability for someone to directly download the photo/video and then use GROK to edit offline an any way they like?

In the end, it’s not worth it

Alternative: As of this writing -> PRIVATE Instagram Accounts with approved followers.

Sincerely,

Paul Davis

 

 

 

March 2026

 

February 2026

Social Media Videos
Through no fault of their own, GenZ/Alpha have been brought up in a world of
-> Watch a video from anyone
-> Emotionally accept what they see/hear
-> Then share immediately, based on the emotional acceptance
They need to learn to:
-> Watch a video
-> Critically Analyse (one big component is to engage their parent/guardian about what they have seen)
-> Fact check if required
-> Share if necessary
That takes work and effort.
For the record, it’s part of my messaging with Grade 7s and older.
February Calendar

paul davis social media

January 2026

This month brings me to BC, Alberta and Ontario

paul davis social media

 

January 22

Photo Scraping
Traditional photo scraping is an automated process of extracting images from websites using scripts to find those images and download them in bulk.
Today, photo scraping includes using AI to search social media posts to find and download images which are very personal/private (in bulk). With AI trained to not just detect images, but also what is IN the image (example: children), this is raising many valid privacy concerns. The very concerning issue is how those images of children are being misused.
The primary targets for bad actors:
X/Twitter Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
This is a gentle reminder to
1) PLEASE check your privacy settings
2) Re-evaluate your contact/friend list
3) Tell our proud Grandparents to limit/restrict posting each and every photo of the grand-kids.
4) Avoid “Sharenting” (parents over-sharing photos of kids)
5) Take time to look back at all photos posted and ask yourself if they still need to be on your SM account.
Paul

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