Privacy Awareness Week: youth privacy online

There’s a lot of coverage in the media lately about different types of parenting styles – you may have heard of helicopter, lawnmower, attachment and countless other parent labels. With these methods comes debate over which is best, but one thing we can agree on is that parenting is tough – and it’s becoming more complex in our digital world.

Today’s youth are tech, Internet and social media savvy, but with all of this connectivity, they may be putting their privacy at risk. It’s important for parents to recognize this risk, and help youth be more aware of the information they share about themselves – knowingly or not – as they bounce from one app to the other.

To help parents, and in honour of Privacy Awareness Week, we’ve turned to three experts in – and advocates for – digital security and privacy for their thoughts:

• Matthew Johnson, Director of Education at MediaSmarts
• Carol Todd, Educator and Founder of the Amanda Todd Legacy Society
•  Amber Mac, Keynote, Author, TV Host and Tech Expert

Listen to this podcast for insights on parenting and youth privacy online. They share a lot of good advice for parents and offer thoughts and tips on everything from sexting to household tech rules.

Engage your child in a conversation about digital citizenship and privacy online

You’ll hear our experts consistently emphasize the importance of ongoing dialogue with your child(ren). To help you get the conversation started, here are some important privacy tips to share:

1. Think about what and how much you share. Posting every detail about your life can make it easier for you to have your identity stolen. Avoid posting your full date of birth, middle name, and other personal information. Remember, the answers to some social media quizzes may reveal personal and private information, like the street you grew up on, that can be used to hack into your accounts.
2. Keep tabs on privacy and permission settings. Every time you download an app or create a social networking account, you are asked to agree to privacy and permissions. These settings could allow the developers to see and use your personal information, including your address book, account information, location, or even your photos. You should adjust privacy settings to limit who sees your posts (friends only, for instance).
3. Keep passwords private. According to Pew Research, as many as one-third of teens have shared a password to an online account with a friend, boyfriend or girlfriend.   Whether they share passwords to maintain a “Snapstreak” or for any other reason, this is a risky behaviour. Teens often find humour in logging into friends’ social media accounts and making posts that they think are funny, without considering the possible implications their actions may have for their friends.

Want to help your child learn more about digital citizenship? Invite them to complete our free online workshops for youth at telus.com/wiseworkshops.