Educate your child in data privacy

Do your homework and when you are ready tell your children what personal information is, and why it is important to keep it private. Personal information can include your child’s name, address, telephone number, school and date of birth, or their phone number, address, school and plans. Privacy is about protecting information related to who we are, what we do, what we think and believe. Make sure your children understand how privacy relates to their online behavior, what they need to do and how to report anything suspicious activity they might come across.

• Focus on location; especially younger children need to understand that sharing their location may allow people to follow them.
• Explain that any photos or hashtags they post can be shared by others indiscreetly.
• Examine the devices, apps and platforms that your children use and along with your child read the privacy policies in the programs they use.
• Control the personal information that webcams, microphones and cookies collect. Your settings should correspond to your children's age, the platform they are on and the type of information they share.
• Teach them good password practices and set their passwords together. Avoid using birth dates, your name or the name of a family member or a pet. Explain that we need to change our passwords regularly and have different passwords for different accesses.