Quincy Your youngster will be utilizing the internet for homework or to play games with pals when the new school year begins. The moment is now to begin educating children about safeguarding their personal data.
It’s not just adults that can fall victim to an internet hoax. Although the BBB does not gather data from individuals under the age of 18, adult reports suggest that scammers are focusing on youngsters.
22.9% of respondents polled for the BBB’s 2024 Scam Tracker Risk Report reported having children under the age of 18. 9.7% of people with kids reported that frauds had targeted them, and almost half of those scams started online. Scammers frequently used social media, phone calls, text messages, gaming platforms, email, and phone apps to target youngsters.
Developing healthy behaviors in both adults and children is essential to family-wide online safety. Discuss with your youngster how to behave safely online. When sharing information about your child or sharing back-to-school pictures online, exercise caution and avoid disclosing any personal information.
Establishing positive habits now will help the family stay secure online and teach children how to avoid frauds in the future.
How can I educate my child about privacy and safety online?
- Teach kids to share with care. It s never too early to learn that anything posted online can last a lifetime. Talk to kids about who might see a post, how it might be perceived and how their actions online can impact other people. Remind them that sharing personal information online can sometimes give scammers hints to their account logins and passwords, and teach them how to create secure passwords.
- Learn about online privacy together. To help kids begin learning how their information might be shared or used, look up some common terms found in privacy policies and terms of agreement and talk about them together: Personal information, cookies, third party, license, user content, location information, log file information, monetization.
- Model good habits. Children mirror the adults in their lives. Following BBB s tips for protecting your money and personal information online sets a good example for them, and helps prevent personal information from being used to target you or your child in a scam.
Where might my youngster encounter internet scammers?
- Phishing links. Kids have less online experience and might be more susceptible to clicking on links in junk email or answering questions they probably shouldn t. Teach children never to click on links in an email and to tell a trusted adult if they receive a message from a stranger.
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Mobile
apps. Be aware that apps, including games, might collect and share personal information about your child or target them with ads. Even free apps can have paid features, and kids may not understand that some apps or game features cost money since they were labeled free to download. - Free downloads. Many websites allow children to download free media, and a child may not realize that this often comes with the risk of downloading a virus. Encourage children not to click download links on unfamiliar websites.
- Location sharing. Many apps share a user s location by default. Together with your child, go into each app s settings and turn off location sharing if it s not needed.
How can I make sure my child is safe as they develop positive behaviors?
- Know where your child is spending time online. Keep track of the sites and accounts your child can access. While social media sites often have minimum age requirements, kids can easily enter a false birthdate to create an account.
- Consider parental controls. Although the best way to keep a child s online privacy safe is to teach them to manage it themselves, you may wish to set parental controls to help keep kids safe while they start learning good habits.
Where can I get additional information about keeping my family safe online?
- The Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) s Good Digital Parenting web portal has resources for families to learn about online safety.
- The Children s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) protects the personal information of children under 13 on websites, apps and online services. Keep in mind: This rule can t protect your child if they lie about their age online.
- The Children s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) helps companies comply with laws that protect children from deceptive advertising.
The Quincy Better Business Bureau’s regional director is Don O. Brien. Reach him at 217-209-3972 or [email protected].
