BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — The Better Business Bureau says now is also a good time to re-evaluate your child’s online safety as families re-adjust to back-to-school routines.
Carl Bates is the President and CEO of the Birmingham BBB. He said parents should exercise caution when allowing their children to use the internet freely.
“This is the time of year where parents need to be very careful as their children are back in school checking what they’re doing with their tablets, computers and phones,” Bates said. “What they’re doing and how they’re using them.”
He said many sites are full of strangers with intentions to collect and sell unauthorized user details and behaviors to advertisers for targeted marketing.
Bates said it’s important to watch out for contests and giveaways, to understand how apps work and to be wary of phishing and file-sharing sites. He said going through the privacy policies of apps is also important.
“Teach them to read those and not just click them, or you look at them before your children click through them,” Bates said.
Bates encourages parents to only let the child share the location in an app when it is necessary and to have parental control over what their child is downloading.
“A lot of times these sites ask you for your age and they want you to be an adult, 18 plus,” Bates said. “A lot of our kids have figured out they can put in the date of what it is to be 18 when they’re only 12 and that, also, is an issue. You’re going to get adult material sometimes sent to you and you don’t want that for your 12-year-old or your middle schooler.”
He said it’s important to share with care.
“Your personal information is like money, so if you’re putting things on your phone, your tablet, your apps, your family and you don’t know what they are you need to be very careful.
Bates said the best thing parents can do to help manage their child’s online privacy is to check out the parent page of the Family Online Safety Institute website.
You can also read more information about keeping children safe online on the BBB’s website.