Help kids manage their online privacy

• Explain that they are in charge of what people know about them.
• Review their privacy settings on the social networks they use. Make sure the controls are strict.
• Explain that everything they post online can be viewed by anyone and can last a long time online.
• Encourage kids to self-reflect before they self-reveal.
• Restrict use of social-mapping programs that let kids post where they are.
• Train kids in "netiquette," such as not posting or forwarding other people's information without their permission.

It's a culture of sharing

Our kids live in a culture of sharing that has changed the concept of privacy. In a world where everyone is connected and anything created can get copied, pasted, and sent to thousands of people in a heartbeat, privacy starts to mean something different from simply guarding personal or private information. Each time your kids fill out a profile without privacy controls, comment on something, post a video, or text a picture to friends, they potentially reveal themselves to the world.

Why privacy matters

Digital life is public and permanent. Everything our kids do online creates digital footprints that wander and persist. Something that happens on the spur of the moment — a funny picture, a certain post — can resurface years later. And if kids aren't careful, their reputations can get away from them.

Your kids may think they only sent something to a friend. But that friend can send it to a friend’s friend, who can send it to their friends’ friends, and so on. That’s how secrets become headlines and how false information spreads fast and furiously. Everything takes place in front of huge invisible audiences. Kids’ deepest secrets can be shared with thousands of people they’ve never even met.

New technologies make controlling privacy more challenging. With GPS-enabled cell phones and location-sharing programs, kids can post their whereabouts. This information can go out to friends, strangers, and companies that will show them ads targeted to their location.

Common sense advice

Explain that nothing is really private. No matter what kids think, privacy settings aren’t infallible. It’s up to kids to protect themselves by thinking twice before they post something that could damage their reputation or that someone else could use to embarrass or hurt them.

Teach kids to keep personal information private. Help kids define what information they should keep private when they're online. We recommend that kids not share their addresses, phone numbers, or birth dates.

Make sure they use privacy settings on their social network pages. Encourage kids to think about their relationships (close friends, family, acquaintances, strangers) and adjust their privacy settings accordingly.

Remind kids to protect their friends' privacy. Passing along a rumor or identifying someone in a picture (called "tagging") affects someone’s privacy. If your kids are tagged in friends’ photos, they can ask to have the photos or the tags removed. But there’s not much more they can do.

Establish hard-and-fast rules about posting. No nude or seminude photos or videos — ever. Not online, not via cell phone (known as "sexting"). No pictures of doing drugs, drinking, or having sex.

Remind kids that what goes around, comes around. If kids spread a rumor or talk nastily about a teacher, they can't assume that what they post will stay private. Whatever they say can come back to haunt them in more ways than they can imagine.

Help kids think long term. Everything leaves a digital footprint. Whatever gets created may never go away. If they don’t want to see it tomorrow, they'd better not post it today.

© Common Sense Media