A “mom hack” for saving money on school photos is going viral – but the AI hack could end up costing hundreds of dollars in legal fees while opening up photos of children to privacy risks.
Back to school is usually followed by school photos, a longstanding tradition often taken against a patterned blue muslin backdrop. The average family may spend between $25 and $60 on those school photos in the US and anywhere from £20 to £100 in the UK.
But a number of influencers have taken to social media to share mom “hacks” for avoiding those costs. There are two similar hacks going viral on social media. The first is to take the child’s school photograph, upload it to AI, then ask the AI to remove the watermarks.
The second is to take a smartphone snapshot and ask an AI to make it look more like a school photograph.
The first hack could leave families with hundreds of dollars in legal fees, while experts warn that uploading a photo of a child to an AI platform could carry hidden privacy risks.
Removing the watermark from a photograph in order to avoid paying for the rights to that photograph is copyright infringement. In the US, fines for copyright infringement range from $750 to $150,000. In the UK, a copyright case can incur both the cost of the photo as well as legal fees that are often far more than the cost of the photo.
One influencer who racked up more than a million likes on one such video of a “mom hack” has now taken the video down.
Copyright infringement is not a victimless crime. There is a real photographer behind those stolen school photographs, and one who is also likely struggling to make ends meet. The average salary for a school portrait photographer in the US, according to ZipRecruiter, is $36,217, which is right around the poverty level for a family of four.
Taking the photograph themselves and asking an AI to add the blue background is the more legally safe hack of the two. But many experts caution parents to consider all of the potential privacy risks before uploading a photo of a child to an AI platform.
A photograph contains more information than what’s visible in the photo. Besides the child’s likeness, the background or a school uniform can reveal information like location and interests. A photograph also contains hidden metadata, including GPS coordinates of where that photo was taken, which gives the AI not just a child’s likeness but also where they live.
A photo of a child uploaded to an AI platform can be used as training data if those settings are not turned off. Parents need to assess the risks and understand that particular AI’s privacy practices before uploading any identifiable photographs of children to an AI.
Not every family can afford a school picture package or a session with a professional photographer. But as a mom of three and a photographer myself, what strikes me about the blank wall photos that were uploaded to ChatGPT to look like school photos is this: What was wrong with the original photos?
I actually liked the plain white background better – and it comes without potential privacy risks, AI warps, and copyright infringement.
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