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February 11 is recognized internationally as Safer Internet Day, and the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) is marking the occasion by warning parents and children of the possible dangers associated with posting images online.

In 2013, ALERT's Integrated Child Exploitation charged more than 100 people following investigations into online child exploitation including luring and sharing of child pornography.

According to ALERT, thousands of child pornography images and videos are downloaded in Alberta every day and a portion of the photos were originally posted by victims who believed they were being shared privately.

ALERT recommends young people avoid sharing images through social media, text messages or emails and offers the following warnings:

• Online photos are never completely removed from the internet
• The original poster of an online photograph has limited control over who can access it and how it is used
• Photographs may contain GPS information, providing the exact location of where the photo was shot
• The creation, possession, and distribute of nude, sexually suggestive, or sexually explicit images involving a minor is a criminal offense

For information on how to protect children from online exploitation, or to report an instance of sexual exploitation of a child, visit Cybertip