In today's online environment we cannot emphasise how really important it is to firstly know what exactly your personal information is, but secondly and more importantly, never to share it and how to protect it. Personal Information is information that could be used to identify you.
We often make the comparison that a person's behaviour in the real world, should be replicated in the online world. To that end, how crazy would it be for you to give a total stranger that you just met while walking down the street, your personal details like your name and your date of birth. Nobody no matter what age they are would do that.
children and some adults are overly trusting of this new digital technology and can be very guilty of over sharing their Personal Information. This is something that you should never do. Your Personal Information consists of, your Name, Date of Birth, Address, School, Phone Number, Email, Username and Password, bank account details and can also include your plans, such as if you were heading on holidays etc.
We are frequently asked online for our Personal Information for legitimate reasons. For example shopping, registering for a particular service, competitions and for online games. It is possible for fake pages or companies to be created online which seek your Personal Information.
If you do share your Personal Information online you may experience Identity Theft, Fraud or in the case of children it may be a Sexual Online Predator looking to get access to them.
Some Advice for Parents
Parents need to teach children what their Personal Information is. Parents should teach Children, Personal Information is –
- Images of them
- Name
- Age
- Address
- Phone Number
- Their School
- Email Address
- Passwords
- Their Real World Locations or Activities
- Parents should ensure that they engage with their children's online lives to ensure that the children are not disclosing their Personal Information
- Parents should not have a ‘Do as I say, Not as I do' attitude when it comes to the distribution of Personal Information. Children are very conscious that their parents have online lives also. You cannot expect your child not to expose their own Personal Information if the see their parents posting everything online
- Check the privacy settings on Apps to ensure that no Personal Information or Geotagged information is shown
- Patents and children need to be aware that there are sophisticated scams out there that will attempt to get you to divulge your Personal Information
- Never respond to Bank or internet company emails seeking your account details. If in doubt ring the business to ensure that it is authentic. Look for an address beginning with http:// or https:// and a ‘locked' padlock symbol in the bottom of the screen, which indicates that data sent is being encrypted
- Our You Tube Channel has more advice on this Topic