French national police has asked parents to exercise caution when it comes posting images of their children on Facebook, reports Verge.com

Last month, on the official Facebook page of National gendarmerie, authorities wrote sirening caution against a viral campaign 'Motherhood Challenge' which encouraged people to share images of themselves with their kids. "You can all be proud to be a mom or dad of beautiful toddlers, but be careful! We remind you that posting pictures of kids on Facebook is not without danger! It is important to protect the privacy of minors and their image on the social networks."

The authorities also said that sharing these images will put the privacy and security of kids at risk. If shared widely, the images could attract sexual predators. It is possible that these images may cause a social or psychological problem a child might face later in life.

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In France, posting images of the toddlers today can cost parents in future as under French privacy law, anyone convicted of publishing and distributing images of another person without their consent can face up to one year in prison and a fine of €45,000, says a report in French newspaper Le Figaro.

French authorities are requesting parents to use stronger privacy settings to limit the viewers of these images.

Facebook's vice president of engineering, Jay Parikh, had recently said that the site is considering a new setting that will alert the parents before they share photos of their kids to a larger audience.