The Sunday Mirror has apologised after pictures of women were used without their consent on a Twitter profile which communicated with Conservative MP Brooks Newmark. Here’s what you can do if you find out someone has been using your pictures online without your consent
What do you do if someone tries to impersonate you on social networks or dating sites? Photograph: Anatolii Babii / Alamy/Alamy
What do you do if someone tries to impersonate you on social networks or dating sites? Photograph: Anatolii Babii / Alamy/Alamy
Two women’s social media profiles unwittingly became part of a sexting sting which led to the resignation of a Conservative MP this week.
The Sunday Mirror’s editor-in-chief Lloyd Embley has since apologised for the unauthorised use of the women’s pictures, which were used by a freelance reporter to create a fictional 20-something Tory PR woman on Twitter. �Sophie Wittams� convinced Conservative MP Brooks Newmark to send explicit photos of himself after exchanging several DMs over Twitter.
In fact, �Sophie� was a male reporter, her Twitter profile picture actually of a Swedish model. It has also transpired the pictures she was sending Newe from another woman’s Twitter account.
The story has re-emphasised just how easy it is to take photos from social media and use them for arguably unethical purposes. There are often reports about both men and women finding their pictures or online identity used by other people, whether it’s on a social network or via a dating site.
First off, how do you find out if your pictures are being used by someone else in the first place?
A quick way to do this is by using Google’s Reverse Image Search. If you’re using Chrome, you can download a plugin which allows you to do this just by right clicking the picture you want to search. It’s not always completely reliable � we searched some pictures we knew were on dating sites for example and 
nothing came up � but it’s quite a useful tool nonetheless.
According to Twitter, impersonation is a violation of their rules. While parody accounts are allowed to remain so long as they clearly state they have no affiliation with the person they’re parodying, pretending to be someone else is a big no-no.
So if an account appears to portray you in �a confusing or deceptive manner�, the network may well suspend the user permanently. When it comes to pictures, it often depends on the circumstances, but another way to get one of your pictures taken down is by filing a copyright complaint.
On Facebook, users are required to use their legal names as it would appear on their passport or driving licence. It’s a policy which has drawn criticism of late from people who use Facebook and don’t necessarily want to use their real names. But it, at least, means it may be easier to report a profile of someone who is impersonating you if they happen to be using your legal name too.
- Scanned or digital image of a government-issued ID (ex: driver’s license, passport
- Notarized statement verifying your identity
- Copy of a police report about your claim
Instagram also takes impersonation very seriously. Here’s where you can file a report if someone is pretending to be you, a friend or one of your businesses on Instagram by either using your pictures or your name.
Google Plus
Google says you can’t use its products to impersonate others, but welcomes parodies � so long as they state they have no affiliation with the actual person. Like other networks, when you contact them about said impersonation, you need to provide some sort of ID to prove you are who you say you are.
Tinder
The dating site has yet to get back to us on what users can do if they believe they are being impersonated by someone on Tinder, but their support email is listed on their website.
Plenty of Fish
On Plenty of Fish, you can report users via their profile pages if you find someone who is using one of your images. The site says it will immediately remove the offending pictures and possibly close the account entirely.
OkCupid
There’s nothing in OkCupid’s terms and services which specifically mentions impersonation. We contacted them for their policy but have yet to receive a reply. They do, however, have the following guidelines:
You agree to create only one unique profile. In addition, in order to maintain the integrity of the Website, by joining, you agree that your use of the Website shall be for bona fide relationship-seeking purposes (for example, you may not use the Website solely to compile a report of compatible singles in your area, or to write a school research paper). From time to time, we may create test profiles in order to monitor the operation of our services.
We’d like to hear from anyone who may have experience with someone taking their pictures or identity online. How did you find out? What action did you take? Are the profiles still out there?
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