Children Online Privacy - Practical Tips for Parents and Teachers

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3 Checking default settings
Many online platforms/systems allow users to change privacy settings,
such as who can see their information and what information would be
retained by the system. Such settings are, however, often set by
default to “sharing with everyone” rather than limiting the sharing and
use of the information. Parents and teachers should therefore sensitise
children to examine these settings critically before choosing to use
new platforms/systems.
4 Nothing is private in the online world
Even when appropriate privacy settings have been carefully chosen,
children should be reminded that it is not always easy or practicable to
keep information private in the online world. Information may be
disclosed where settings are misunderstood or misconfigured, or it
may be deliberately copied and pasted to open forums by
closed-circle “friends”. Children should be warned that sharing
information including photographs online willingly or inadvertently
means that the information will be accessed by members of the public.
5 Teach children to respect the privacy of others
Parents and teachers should also encourage children to respect
privacy of others in the way they would like to be respected. For
example, children should be encouraged to have regard to the
personal consent of their friends and families when they plan to share
or tag their photographs.
3 See
4 See
More specifically, parents and teachers are advised to read with
children the leaflets Protecting Online Privacy – Be Smart on Social
Networks3 and Protect Privacy by Smart Use of Smartphones4 and
discuss how they can better protect themselves.