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Woman’s Story Of Her Photos Being Misused Without Her Knowledge Is A Lesson For All Of Us

byJinal Bhatt
30th July 2018
6 minute read

Let me ask you a question. Do you know what stock photos are? For example, this popular meme, is actually a stock photo!

To explain, you see the faces of men, women, even children, on advertisements, billboards, websites and so on? They’re basically models whose photos are used to endorse products and services. For the most part, these models have willingly and in full awareness, signed away their rights to the pictures to the photographers, who then sell them to be so used. And they even get paid for it. It’s all legal.

But what the story of South African author Shubnum Khan will tell you is that sometimes, an innocent act can make you an unknowing and unwilling model for stock photos. And then, what happens with those photos can no longer be in your control.

Khan discovered this shocking truth some six years ago, when a friend spotted her face in a Canadian immigration ad in a newspaper.

And now, Khan is finally ready to tell her story with a Twitter thread that is a must-read in today’s times, where we are so callous about sharing our personal data. What makes this thread engaging though, is how she manages to strike the right balance of humour and gravitas in her cautionary tale.

At first, Khan was in total shock about the ad that had her face on it without her knowledge.

Clearly, ads like these often use stock photos to supplement their copy. It’s something anyone in the business will tell you. But the main question here was, how did Khan’s picture end up being a stock photo?

Luckily, a friend jogged her memory back to a photo shoot that they both had done during their university days in Durban….

Again, this is quite a common tactic that photographers use to lure models. They usually throw in some free photos for students or struggling actors/models, in exchange for them modelling for a portfolio shoot or something. They assure the people that it is perfectly legal, and even manage to get their legal consent to use these photos for any purpose.

And that’s what Khan and her friend did. The mistake of not reading the fine print!

And just like that, a blatant scam became perfectly legal.

Khan’s worst fears came true when she contacted the photographer and he confirmed it….Her photos were indeed now stock photos!

You know how a lot of celebrities avoid doing a Google Search of their names because they’re scared of what might pop up under their name?

Well, let’s just say Khan was kind of a stock photo model now, and her Google Search opened a whole Pandora’s box worth of shocks for her!

Her face was being used to advertise practically everything! From the immigration-friendliness of Canada to trek trips in Cambodia!

Whoa! Talk about being a global citizen!

What’s more, Khan now had several different names. Like here, where she is Dina M and dealing with some serious medical issues!

No wait, a few more health issues to deal with!

She was even a popular face to use for people’s doctoral thesis, magazines that talked about anything India and so on!

Now here was the part that was even more worrisome.

Until now, Khan’s picture was just namelessly being used to sell products and services. But then she discovered that in some ads, she was given a whole new fake identity and turned into a fake professional service provider!

And of course, this too was legal because the photographer had included a very sly caveat in the waiver that Khan had signed!

Her face was being used to write fake testimonials for a foster care service. in another, she was listed as a real tutor for a website that provided private study help to students! She had fake degrees and everything!

 And it just kept getting more and more bizarre!

Khan even found herself looking for love on a French dating website, and the English translation of her bio will crack you up!

Oh but wait, there’s more incoming, all the way from Uruguay!

Khan seems to be quite a popular face for endorsing immigration policies. And she mentions that it’s one of the only ads that doesn’t bother her that much.

The gist: She is everyone, she is everywhere and she is selling everything!

Khan’s only connection to this entire sham was the photographer she had unwittingly sold the pictures to.

Alas, the photographer had done a good enough job of protecting his ass from any liability and ensured the whole thing was legally binding.

But hey! He was sorry! As if that made a fat lot of difference!

Thankfully though, he agreed to take it down but there was still the question of the already downloaded photos….

Okay folks, while this was clearly a lot of fun to see Khan selling random things on the internet, it was time to arrive at the serious lesson part of it all.

The fact that stock photo models actually get paid for their work while Khan didn’t get a single penny was something that sure stung like a bee!

But the knowledge that her photos could’ve been used for worse things than selling dental sedation was a scary enough possibility to dwell on!

It could’ve been anything, from pornography to terrorist ideology meant to incite people. And Khan would’ve been able to do nothing about it, because it was all legal!

Another important lesson that Khan’s story highlights is how so many things on the Internet these days are fake!

We often rely heavily on online reviews and testimonials. But you never know….

Khan’s parting words are something to live by. They ought to ring in your ears, loud and clear, every time you’re sharing your personal data and photos! You never know but you might be signing away your right to protect it!

Yes, now you do know.

Khan’s cautionary tale thread went quite viral, and woke up a lot of people to the scary truth!

Quite the eye-opening story about keeping your eyes open!

Khan’s friend is pretty glad the story is being finally shared!

Even Khan agreed that the pairing of humour and seriousness might have been a good idea to deliver the message!

YES! The scary part is not to see your face everywhere. No. The scary part is you can do nothing to take it down or stop it!

Another situation to apply this lesson to!

A public Facebook or Instagram profile can be a very dangerous thing!

https://twitter.com/thekat0711/status/1023629111896498177

Imagine how many times you might’ve been manipulated by fake ‘real doctors’ in ads, or fake testimonials and user reviews!

Some people even shared their own trysts with such situations, and it’s all the more reason to be careful!

https://twitter.com/AlanMamedi/status/1023571534764490752

Some legal advice before you sign anything is a great idea, of course. But for all the times when you have to DIY, be very cautious!

As Charles Dickens began The Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness….” Perfectly describes how in today’s age, we can be a little foolish in our wisdom too. So remember to…

https://twitter.com/MargyGoLightly/status/1023727166008115200

Hear! Hear!

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