Malaysian dad warns parents about social media usage after daughter nearly gets kidnapped

Being parents of young children in the digital age presents some treacherous challenges, and we’re not talking about kids getting addicted to their devices. 

We’re talking about the dangers of location tracking and privacy breaches — data that could be exploited by ne'er-do-wells to bring harm to your child. 

A father in Malaysia took to Facebook on Tuesday (Jan 7) to warn other parents about the risks of sharing too much information about their kids on social media. It’s something that he strongly advocated, especially since his young daughter was nearly kidnapped on school grounds, he claimed. 

Ihsan recounted that the episode took place on Monday (Jan 6), in which his wife allegedly witnessed how a smartly dressed stranger tried to lead the toddler away. Frighteningly so, said stranger was said to have called out to the child by her name.

Fortunately, a teacher familiar with Ihsan’s wife put a stop to the stranger’s attempt and told him off. “Right there we realised the weight of a teacher’s responsibilities — both in class and outside,” wrote Ihsan. 

According to him, the stranger then made a feeble excuse about being in the wrong school, to which Ihsan points out the improbability of it all. The school’s principal was immediately informed about the incident, which was taken seriously. 

“Avoid sharing your child’s name and school on social media… Anything can happen to kids, maybe because of how others may feel about their parents," he wrote — ironically on a post that fully shows his daughter's face. 

Kidnap scares are nothing new in Singapore though, and over the past couple of years, parents have been repeatedly alarmed by stories that turned out to be untrue. 

Thought it might be hard not to share pictures of your kids online (a convenient way to document their years growing up), Ihsan does have a point. One could risk exposing the children’s identity and other personal information to unwanted characters, and yes, that includes sexual predators. 

Plus, it’d also set a precedent that it’s okay to reveal a lot of personal details online in a time when all of us should be worried about data privacy and how our information are being used by companies and the government. 

ilyas@asiaone.com