How Australian parents can keep their children safe online
Australian parents say they don’t know how to protect their children and themselves online. Now, experts explain how they can from when their kids turn five. SEE THE TIPS
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Exclusive: Australian parents are “overwhelmed” and still do not know how to protect their children and themselves from online predators and hackers.
Parents who overshare photos of their children online are also contributing to the risk, as experts reveal how it can open their families up to more online threats.
New data obtained by News Corp Australia from Norton LifeLock has shown:
*One in five still do not feel informed on how to protect their child from inappropriate content online;
*One in four do not know how to safeguard themselves from financial loss as a result of their child’s actions online;
*One in four do not know how to avoid malware and viruses;
*One in three do not know how to protect their family from hackers who can access their private data or cameras on devices including TVs, laptops or smartspeakers.
Norton LifeLock Senior Director Melissa Dempsey told News Corp parents must ensure they and their children have strong security software and passwords on all of their devices.
“Parents should make sure they have a VPN not just at home, it should be on their phone when they go out and use open Wi-Fi,” she said.
“It encrypts all of their data so they can look at it and are not open to someone eavesdropping on them.”
“A strong password can help them by limiting how much information someone has access to if they fall victim to a scam.”
Ms Dempsey said parents should also be aware of scams that can come in the form of text messages.
“Parents can be caught offguard. There’s so much online now and we have to adapt all the time.”
Family Digital Literacy Specialist Dr Joanne Orlando told News Corp parents must stop using social media sites as their “family photo album”.
“Parents are proud of their kids, but even the first day at school photo gives away a lot of information that paedophiles can use,” she said.
“They need to be more selective with photos, and not use Facebook and other public spaces to share them.
“While you may have privacy settings on, it does not protect you 100 per cent.”
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“If you use public Wi-Fi to upload and check them it’s a risk to you and your family as hackers can access this, build a profile around you on the dark web and sell that information.”
The data comes as new child sex laws are set to be introduced into federal parliament next week, which seeks to impose mandatory prison sentences on child sex offenders.
It could increase the maximum penalty for some offences to life in prison.
Dr Orlando said parents can start talking to their kids at the age of five about “clickbait ads” they might see on free games and other sites searched.
She said privacy settings must be reviewed as children get older.
“It’s common for parents to feel helpless but they can start with simple things like alerting them to pop-up ads, and keep talking to them as they get older,” she said.
“Work out what the best privacy settings are, speak to them about problems with tagging their location all the time and adjust their settings so it’s not always on.”
Dr Orlando also recommended parents disable credit card links to shopping sites to avoid getting stung by purchases their child might make.
“Parents might also want to consider a new phone plan where children are less tempted to hop on to a public Wi-Fi network to save their own phone data,” she said.
TIPS TO HELP PARENTS ONLINE
*Install a VPN on all devices to encrypt personal data
*Have strong, secure passwords
*Be wary of scams circulating on email, text, social media
*Don’t use public Wi-Fi to access personal information unless its protected by a VPN
*Use privacy settings on devices and social media but review them regularly
*Talk to children from age five and up about scams, clickbait ads and friend requests from strangers
*Remove credit card details from websites frequently used to avoid being out of pocket if a child makes a purchase
*Look at phone plans that offer enough data so children use public Wi-Fi less
Originally published as How Australian parents can keep their children safe online
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