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Privacy and Your Child
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What are the Risks?
When your child shares information like their phone number, personal email address, the name of their school, or home address online, there is a risk it could be used in ways they may not have thought about.
Personal information gathered online can be misused and result in things like spam, scams, fraud, sexual grooming and unwanted contact or even identity theft.
Photos or videos of your child that are posted online or shared through messaging apps might end up appearing more widely than intended. They could also be ‘harvested’ from the platforms and services you use for unintended purposes, including to train artificial intelligence (AI) tools and create deepfakes.
It’s important that your child understands that information they share online may be used to identify them or in other ways that may not be safe. They should think about where they share information, who can access it, what others may be doing with their information and the impression they are leaving for others to find.
How can I protect my child’s privacy when they are online?
1. Get involved and explore the online world alongside them
Sit down together and check privacy settings on online accounts, apps and devices – ensure your child has selected the highest privacy setting. Learn how in parental controls to help you understand and adjust privacy settings.
Play alongside your child in online games, or ask them to show you the games they’re playing, to see what kinds of information they may be sharing. Get to know the apps and devices your child is using. Some gaming platforms like Steam, and streaming services like Spotify, have the option to share users’ activity or playlists with other people and apps. Children may not understand that their online activity could be public – or seen by their friends or connections – unless they check and adjust their privacy settings, so explore the settings in their platforms and devices together.
If you would like to learn more about individual apps, games or services, check popular apps your child may be using or The eSafety Guide.
2. Respect their privacy
Think before sharing or tagging photos or videos of children.
If you are concerned that a photo or video of your child has been posted online without your permission, ask for it to be removed. As a first step, you can ask the person who posted the photo or video to delete it. If the person refuses, or you do not know who posted it or do not feel able to contact the person, you may wish to report the content to the platform or service where it was posted.
If the photo or video has been posted through your child’s school or a co-curricular, enrichment or other groups, contact the organisation directly to raise your concerns. They should be able to refer you to their digital media policy, which should provide details about the type of photos or videos that can be posted, the way they will be used and how they obtain consent from parents or carers.
Visit The eSafety Guide for more information about contacting or reporting material to platforms and services.
Article adapted from eSafety