Dear IL'ites,
Please refer this FAQ about viewing attachments / pictures -
Can anyone visiting the site see the pictures/attachments posted here?
I guess the above would have answered your doubts about how safe are the pictures posted here in IL.
We allow visitors coming to the site to see the posts (but NOT the attachments), that's the reason we ask NOT to include your personal info (like email, phone numbers, address, etc.) in the messages posted in the forums.
We want everyone visiting the site to see the messages posted in the forums, only then they will get to know about the kind of discussions happening here. It will then help decide whether information shared here is useful or interesting to them. Only then they will be able to decide about registering to become part of our community.
Don't we want new (of-course genuine) friends here? However, we have moderators to take care of those spammers or solicitors.