Your Content, Your Control: 3 Legal Tips to Protect Your Personal IP in the Age of AI and Social Media
I’ve long been the “lawyer friend.” The one who gets the call when someone accidentally signs a sketchy NDA, enters a one sided partnership, or exits a job without understanding their rights. But lately, the volume of calls I’ve received about unauthorized use of photos, content, and likeness online has exploded.
It’s not surprising. Between our social media habits and the rise of AI, people are waking up to the risks of sharing their lives, ideas, and images online. Whether you're a creator, founder, freelancer, or just someone who posts family updates to Instagram, your personal brand is now public facing. And that means your digital footprint, i.e. photos, voice, likeness, and original work is at risk of being misused, remixed, and monetized by others.
Here’s the good news: with a little bit of awareness and a few diligent habits, you can significantly reduce your exposure and take better control of your online presence.
Below are three simple, but powerful tips to help you protect yourself and your content.
1. Be Thoughtful About the Photos You Post
It’s easy to forget that every time you upload a photo, whether it’s a vacation selfie or a silly TikTok of your kids, you are putting a piece of yourself into the public domain. Even if your account is private, you should assume the platform still collects, store, and potentially reuses that data under the terms you agreed to (typically without reading them).
Here are a few smart safeguards:
Avoid posting high res photos unless necessary, as they are easier to scrape, reuse, and manipulate.
Strip location data (metadata) from your photos before uploading. Many smartphones embed GPS coordinates by default.
Don’t assume private = safe. “Private” social media accounts still grant platforms broad usage rights.
2. Be Careful What You Upload to AI Platforms
Generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and others are incredible for brainstorming, drafting, and organizing ideas. But they’re not private vaults.
Even though companies like OpenAI have put safeguards in place, these tools aren’t designed to be secure data storage environments. I’ve seen too many people paste in:
Confidential contracts
Client names
Product roadmaps
Business strategy docs
My guidance:
Never upload sensitive or proprietary data unless you know how it’s being stored and processed.
Treat free AI tools like public spaces. If you wouldn’t say it out loud in a coffee shop, don’t paste it into a chatbot.
Consider business-tier or enterprise versions of AI tools if your company relies on them frequently. These often include stronger confidentiality protections.
3. Read the Fine Print Before Clicking “Accept”
That seemingly innocent selfie app, voice filter, or AI photo generator? It might have terms that grant the site:
Unlimited rights to reuse your image or voice
The ability to train future AI models on your content
Permission to use your likeness in ads or commercial materials
You don’t need to read every word of the terms of service, but you should scan for a few key phrases before using new tools:
“License” or “right to use”
“Sub-license,” “royalty-free,” or “perpetual”
“AI training,” “content ownership,” or “user-generated content”
If anything sounds vague or overly broad, pause. There may be safer alternatives that better protect your rights.
You don’t need to become a conspiracy theorist or avoid the internet entirely. But, in a digital first world where our identities, voices, and creative work are increasingly used as training fodder for algorithms and marketing content, a little hygiene goes a long way.
You can still share, create, and connect just do so thoughtfully.
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Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only and reflects the personal views of the author. It is not intended as legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and should not be relied on as a substitute for consultation with qualified legal counsel. The content may be considered attorney advertising in some jurisdictions, including New York and Connecticut. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.