Technology Vs People in Avatars

[letom]

In previous time of history people have a restricted mind to put profile images on web, but now history is changed, all people are putting their avatars on web/social networking with out any restrictions, what is the cause of that , Is technology is changed or people are changed ? I think technology is changed lot by adding more negative aspects to this issue, In previous time people are bothered about this issue, now why new generation are not concerned about it, how people like me web programmers can ensure the safety of each user in the case of profile photos or avatars ?

[djr33]

Your question isn't entirely clear. I will try to answer it, but please focus on a specific problem to be solved so that it is clear how we can help. Also, this is not specifically an issue about code/programming, but about web design in general-- discussions like that belong in the Lounge area. I'm moving it there now.

Social networks, like Facebook, encourage posting photos. That's especially true of image/photo blog/gallery sites. Along with the popularity of mobile devices that make taking pictures easier, more web users are starting to know how to take pictures and add them as avatars (among other things). That has changed some, but not in a fundamental way-- although it is true that now almost everyone has photos on Facebook, so why not put them on other websites? But in some cases, people prefer to have disconnected accounts on different websites, to preserve some level of anonymity.

So I don't think there has been any huge change in this, and there's certainly nothing that you can do as a web designer. Images are uploaded as a choice by users. Almost all of them already understand that by uploading an image, they're sharing it with everyone-- and if they don't understand that, then it's not really our problem, and there's nothing we can do about it. This means that it's simply a choice: some users want images of themselves (I have an image of myself here, for example), while others do not. There are reasons either way. It's the same situation with usernames-- do you use a "fake" username, your real, full name, or something in between? The reason to have a picture of yourself (or your real name) is to have a stronger connection to others on the forum, or maybe to be associated with what you write (perhaps you are a famous celebrity and want to become involved in a charity forum). The reasons to not use a picture of yourself (or your real name) are either 1) privacy and anonymity (and security-- in case, in the most extreme example, someone wants to find you in real life, or in a simpler case that you just don't want your name/image associated with what you post), or 2) you want a clever/creative username/image (I've rotated through a few avatars here, some of me, and some of amusing computer-related images I've found on the internet).


In short, users decide what they want to do (and I think it is true that more are now uploading images of themselves because it's easier, but I don't know if that's a big change statistically), and as a web designer there isn't any real concern.


There are other privacy concerns as a web designer, of course-- keeping IP addresses confidential, and possibly the same with emails and so forth, depending on what users expect and what your privacy policy states. And in some places (eg, the UK) there are specific rules about cookies and other features like that. Then there are questions of when you must reveal the confidential information to the government and so forth. But I don't see how any of that applies to avatars: users have avatars or they do not, and it's up to them what content is in them. If they do have avatars, anyone on the entire internet can see/save them if they want.

[letom]

Hi Daniel.

Thanks for your valuable information. I think you find out something deeply what iam expecting, well appreciated..

Could u please give some detailed information about this topic ?

And in some places (eg, the UK) there are specific rules about cookies and other features like that

about what types of information can we access from client's browser cache/more about that type of restrictions.

Also can you give some more information about how the privacy policy of website protect users as well website owner in front of law ? I have already made 2,3 privacy policies and Tos for my websites, but all these are written as common way as others do, i would like know deeply about the purpose of that.

[djr33]

Could u please give some detailed information about this topic ?

And in some places (eg, the UK) there are specific rules about cookies and other features like that

about what types of information can we access from client's browser cache/more about that type of restrictions.

I don't know too much about that. I know that it exists. Basically, UK websites are required to notify users before using cookies. (Personally I think this makes no sense at all and reflects a lack of understanding of technology on the part of the lawmakers, but that's for another topic.)
However, you can find a lot of information on Google.

Another example is that in the US, you must be 13 years old to do things like register a forum account without the permission of a parent. For this purpose, there is a special form that websites must use to get the permission of a parent. For that reason, many websites require an age of 13+ to avoid the complications and possible legal consequences.

I am far from an expert on the legal aspects. Individually you can find lots of information on Google about these topics. Overall, you might want to hire a lawyer. The most complicated part is that this is a situation involving international law-- is your website legal in the US? In Australia? Brazil? Kenya? And so on. In general you can probably mostly focus on the more restrictive countries with the most internet users (EU and US are good to start), but that may not always cover everything.

Also can you give some more information about how the privacy policy of website protect users as well website owner in front of law ? I have already made 2,3 privacy policies and Tos for my websites, but all these are written as common way as others do, i would like know deeply about the purpose of that.

This is not the place to ask legal questions. We aren't lawyers, so our advice would not be reliable. Generally speaking, as long as the language is clear and the requirements/rules are reasonable (nothing illegal is required by them) then that kind of agreement should be upheld by the law-- this is true of any situation-- a verbal discussion ("oral contract"), a formal situation with lawyers, or accessing a website, and so forth. But there are many possibilities for overlooking an important detail that could matter later. If this is a concern, the only solution is to hire a lawyer.

One alternative is to look for help online and use pre-written statements for things like privacy and so forth. But again, you would need to hire a lawyer to be entirely certain.

As long as you aren't doing anything in a legal gray area, it may not be important-- be clear and open in the information you provide, and don't do anything that would be questionable. But even then, you could get specific confirmation from a lawyer to be sure.

If it ever does become an issue, the reality is that you will need a lawyer anyway. So if you think it might, it's a good idea to hire one now to avoid it for the future.

If your website grows and becomes a potential target, then you should accordingly have legal representation. For example, Google and Facebook certainly have lawyers-- not necessarily because they do anything worse than you do, but because there is more to lose.

[letom]

Thanks dear Daniel,your advices are appreciable from the point of a web developer. No it is not asking legal questions, but some more legal matters should be known by web developers because website is a mode of broadcasting,though it interacts with millions of people from different parts of world. what i am asking is only what web developers should be aware to resist these types of issues to a certain extent ..

If you know anything more about it or have any new ideas i am very appreciated to hear the same...

[djr33]

I agree that having legal information would be helpful for web developers. Unfortunately that doesn't make it any easier to get that kind of information. However, there are some resources online (such as forums that do offer legal advice).

Generally, most web designers (or people within any certain field) tend to do whatever others do-- general practice. For various reasons, that generally is acceptable (and, I believe, to some extent can even be a legal defense-- "everyone else on the internet is doing that", not that it would always work). So be careful, but if it seems reasonable because it is common practice, then it's usually not a big problem. If you are doing something unusual, having specific legal advice can be important.

The real problem is that you can't have generic legal advice: many technicalities exist in the law and being 90% right means you have 10% open to being found guilty of whatever you're worried about. So a lawyer will need to know all of the details before he or she can give you good advice. There won't be a simple answer for the future. You can certainly make an educated guess and be probably right, but there's some risk in that.

[letom]

I accept all your recommendations , but i am expressing and sharing my ideas and others experience i heard previously

Generally, most web designers (or people within any certain field) tend to do whatever others do

Yes, that is sure but in front of authorities, if they are asking a question, At what courage you had done this ? then it is unethical to say, because others are doing like this, that why we also done like this, instead of that we need to give our own explanations, I think we only need to consult a lawyer if we have a big business concern like the companies you stated (or once our company is get merely to that position), otherwise we can deal it as our self to a certain extent, also i have heard about some issues that some clients have filed case against website designers for some simple issues in the website due to the negligence from developer, i think it is all because of the lack of knowledge in writing the contract and TOS by developer.

for example website designer may forgot to change the email address in Server Side scripting of form, it may be unchanged and host it into clients server, then the result is, if a client is contacting, the email is forwarding not to the legitimate user, instead of some other email address wrongly entered, this can help a client to take action against a developer, to avoid this issue, the developer must write a term "It is the responsibility of client, to verify their inquiry form is submitting messages to the concerned address" then developer can legally claim with this term that he is innocent, but it is a negligence of developer.

Also another fact is an individual of foreign country cannot come to another country for dealing a case with a big business concern(as all cases related to that company will be held on the court of their locality) , some times it also not viable for users or clients, but it is a different aspect.

[djr33]

It is completely your decision to consult a lawyer or not. I don't care if you do. But the purpose is to protect you from possible legal problems that could be prevented from legal advice. You don't need to hire a lawyer for everything (in fact, you never are required to hire a lawyer), but in some cases, that may mean that you overlook a potential problem. It's your decision when you want to hire a lawyer. But you can't get a complete or accurate answer to these questions without doing that-- even then, a lawyer can only offer an educated opinion about the matter, while you might get sued and have a judge or jury that rules differently in a court proceeding. It is for these reasons that Dynamic Drive is not the place for discussions about legal matters. We can discuss some of the basic issues, and we have done that now. It is for that reason that I'm closing this discussion.