But there are a few simple precautions to take that will allow them freedom while safeguarding their interests. See also: Best identity theft protection Enough of your fear-mongering! What can I do about it?Īs a parent, there’s a fine line between protecting your kids’ privacy and invading it yourself. When that day comes, however, these young victims are in for a rude awakening. Identity fraud can go on for years without notice, because kids have no need for credit until they are old enough to buy a car, rent an apartment, or take out loans for college. Kids make great targets for identity theft because they have clean slates with no blemishes on their credit report. One in 40 families has a child who is a victim of identity theft, according to the Identity Theft Assistance Center and the Javelin Strategy & Research Group, and that figure is on the rise. In fact, Carnegie Mellon CyLabs says children are over 50 times as likely to have their social security number used by another person. Drug dealers and sex offenders target kids online, as do identity thieves. You’ve probably heard of horror stories where a kid unknowingly spends thousands of dollars on in-app purchases in a mobile game. The ramifications of ignoring a child’s online activity can have both immediate and long-term effects.
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Read more: How your identity can be stolen using social media (and how to prevent it) But kids are far more susceptible than adults. That info can also be used by scammers and predators to target kids. Profile info is used by the social network to serve targeted ads and recommend content. Social media and games pose the biggest threat to children’s privacy, because they request a significant amount of information upon registration. Snapchat, Tumblr, Vine, Instagram, and Kik are all popular among teens and pre-teens. Facebook claims it is powerless to stop children from lying about their age and creating accounts.Īnd that’s just Facebook. A quarter of those kids on Facebook never touch the privacy restrictions on their profile, and a fifth of them publicly display their address and/or phone number. One in three are on Facebook despite the 13-year-old age limit. In the UK, 43 percent of nine- to 12-year-olds have a social media profile, according to the Library of Congress. Three out of four children have access to a smartphone in the US. So no, you can’t depend on the internet self-regulating itself or on governments (which can only create regulations for their own country, anyway) to step in on your behalf. However, this is the same organization that in 2013 attempted to filter websites deemed unsafe or inappropriate for children, but inadvertently blocked the websites of LGBT rights groups and charities meant to educate children about drugs, health, and sex. The UK has been a bit more pro-active in spreading online privacy awareness among British youth through the UKCCIS and its “Click clever, click safe” mantra.
Websites that might otherwise provide content that’s appropriate for kids often ban children altogether because of the compliance burden and potential fines for violating COPPA. It doesn’t stop kids from accessing pornography or from being advertised to. Children often resort to less age-appropriate content instead of waiting around for a parent’s approval. As if the average kid has a long enough attention span to wait around for their parent to read through a privacy policy.ĬOPPA has been heavily criticized for being ineffective and even counterproductive in protecting kids online. The US law requires that websites directed at children under the age of 13 must get parental consent among other compliance standards. With great power comes great responsibility, right?Īt least, that’s what the forward-thinking legislators that drew up the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act thought. And everyone with the ability to make a website or app has a thorough understanding of ethics and regulations when it comes to collecting data and serving advertisements to minors. Won’t the internet and government regulate this for me?īecause we all know how honest people are when asked their age before entering a website. No, not that talk. It’s time to discuss online privacy with your kids. But better to hear it from a parent than learn it from a stranger or God-knows-who online. It’s going to be awkward and uncomfortable for both of you, and things have changed a lot since you were that age.
You peeked at their browser history and, well, it’s time. It’s time to have the talk with your child.
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