BBB Tips: Keeping kids safe online

(BBB) — The new school year is getting underway and your child will be using the internet for schoolwork or to play games with friends. Now is a good time to start teaching them about protecting their personal information.

Read more or hear from Better Business Bureau Regional Director Pamela Hernandez below:

Adults aren’t the only ones who can be targeted by a scam online. While BBB does not collect information from people under the age of 18, reports from adults indicate that scammers are targeting children.

In BBB’s 2024 Scam Tracker Risk Report, 22.9% of adults surveyed said they had children under 18. Of those with children, 9.7% said their children had been targeted by scams, and nearly half of those scams began online. Popular methods scammers used to reach children included social media, phone calls, text message, gaming platforms, email and phone apps.

Online safety for the whole family involves building good habits for both children and adults. Talk with your child about safe online behavior. Be judicious when sharing about your child or posting back-to-school photos online – make sure not to reveal any personal details.

Building good habits now will help the whole family stay safe online and help kids learn to protect themselves from scams throughout their lives.

How can I teach my child about online safety and privacy?

• Teach kids to share with care. It’s never too early to learn that anything posted online can last a lifetime. Talk to kids about who might see a post, how it might be perceived and how their actions online can impact other people. Remind them that sharing personal information online can sometimes give scammers hints to their account logins and passwords, and teach them how to create secure passwords.
• Learn about online privacy together. To help kids begin learning how their information might be shared or used, look up some common terms found in privacy policies and terms of agreement and talk about them together: Personal information, cookies, third party, license, user content, location information, log file information, monetization.
• Model good habits. Children mirror the adults in their lives. Following BBB’s tips for protecting your money and personal information online sets a good example for them, and helps prevent personal information from being used to target you or your child in a scam.

What are some places my child could run into scams online?

• Phishing links. Kids have less online experience and might be more susceptible to clicking on links in junk email or answering questions they probably shouldn’t. Teach children never to click on links in an email and to tell a trusted adult if they receive a message from a stranger.
• Mobile apps. Be aware that apps, including games, might collect and share personal information about your child or target them with ads. Even free apps can have paid features, and kids may not understand that some apps or game features cost money since they were labeled free to download.
• Free downloads. Many websites allow children to download free media, and a child may not realize that this often comes with the risk of downloading a virus. Encourage children not to click download links on unfamiliar websites.
• Location sharing. Many apps share a user’s location by default. Together with your child, go into each app’s settings and turn off location sharing if it’s not needed.

How can I ensure my child is staying safe while they learn good habits?

• Know where your child is spending time online. Keep track of the sites and accounts your child can access. While social media sites often have minimum age requirements, kids can easily enter a false birthdate to create an account.
• Consider parental controls. Although the best way to keep a child’s online privacy safe is to teach them to manage it themselves, you may wish to set parental controls to help keep kids safe while they start learning good habits.

Where can I find more online safety information for my family?

• The Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI)’s Good Digital Parenting web portal has resources for families to learn about online safety.
• The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) protects the personal information of children under 13 on websites, apps and online services. Keep in mind: This rule can’t protect your child if they lie about their age online.
• The Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) helps companies comply with laws that protect children from deceptive advertising.