Q&A WITH AUSTRALIA’S ESAFETY COMMISSION

According to the latest research at esafety.gov.au, parents have a number of concerns about their child being online. The three most common concerns cited are: exposure to inappropriate content other than pornography (38%), contact with strangers (37%) and being bullied online (34%). This is largely unchanged from 2016, with the exception of ‘excessive use’, which is no longer in the top responses.

Parental Concerns

More stats from the Esafety Commission

28% of parents reported being aware of their child having a negative online experience in the last 12 months. This increased significantly in line with the age of the child. Among parents of 13 to 17-year olds, awareness increased to 37%. There was no difference in awareness of negative experiences based on the child’s gender.

Of parents aware that their child had a negative online experience, nearly 66% reported finding out about the experience from their child, 19% finding out themselves and 6% from their child’s school or teacher.

Parents identified that a classmate (31%) or a friend (22%) was responsible for their child’s negative online experience while a further 28% indicated that a stranger was responsible.

Q&A WITH AUSTRALIA’S ESAFETY COMMISSION

Experts at the nation’s leading online safety body respond to some questions provided by our readers

Parent One: My kids are online, a lot. How often are they asked for personal information and what are kids likely to divulge?

Many of us grew up in a very different world to the one in which today’s children are developing. As digital natives they live in a world where they have different conceptions about privacy and sharing. This can, at times, include compromising their own privacy and safety by sharing personal information for the sake of not feeling left out or to portray a certain version of themselves online.

Our research shows the most common personal information young people share with people they have only met online is their age, photos of themselves and their full name. A slightly higher proportion of girls revealed personal information than boys; boys were more likely to share fake information.

Password sharing is also quite common among young people and can at times be considered the ultimate sign of trust between friends. However, our research showed that only 17% of Australian young people between the ages of 8 to 17 shared passwords to their emails or social media accounts. Of that group, teens aged 13 to 17 were more likely to share their passwords with friends whereas kids aged 8 to 12 were more likely to share their passwords with their parents. Parent Two: What are some easy, practical steps for parents and kids to avoid sharing too much information?

1Start setting good habits as early as possible! It’s never too early to start talking about online safety with your children and should be initiated the minute a device is handed over.

2Model good behaviour and teach your child to respect privacy. A good example of this is asking for their permission before sharing or tagging your children on your own social media accounts.

3Explain why they should avoid putting personal information on their social media profiles such as phone numbers, date of birth, school uniforms, passwords, or addresses. 4 Remind them about their digital reputation and that it can last forever. Encourage them to take care of their digital reputation as well as the reputation of others.

5Get involved and explore the online world alongside them – sit down together and check privacy settings on social media accounts, apps and devices and ensure they have selected the most secure settings.

6If your child is playing games, co-play with them to understand what kinds of information they may be sharing.

Parent Three: My boys chatter online a lot when gaming; I ask Siri for help often. My sister-in-law has Alexis on at home all the time. Who’s listening in and are ‘bots’ actively gathering data on us?

Smart devices and online games can offer lots of entertainment and educational benefits but it’s important for parents to be aware of the potential privacy and security risks.

While playing online games, your child could be communicating with strangers (including adults) through web cam, private messaging or online chat, increasing the risk of contact from online abusers, or bullying from other players. Tell your child to notify you immediately if a person they have met online only tries to start a conversation about something inappropriate or requests personal information.

Smart devices and toys that connect to the internet can also have security issues, from drones and smart teddies to tablets and wearables. The risks include breaches of privacy through the collection of personal data or unsecure wireless connections. Data may also be exposed to third parties – including hackers – revealing personal information which may be used for sinister purposes.

We encourage parents to be vigilant when introducing smart devices into their home. Check how the device will use and store you and your child’s information, set strong passwords and secure accounts, refrain from linking your location or sensitive data with others, install the latest security and software updates and manually deactivate any unnecessary functions like recording capabilities.