In current times, during the Coronavirus pandemic, people have to stay home with their families and kids. Staying at home usually also means spending lots of time using different gadgets, in particular, spending time on social networks. It means that the urge to update one’s social account with a kid’s photo can be even stronger. When it comes to responsible digital parenting, it is hard to draw the line that defines the breach of children’s rights along with jeopardising their safety and the safe sharing of photo and video materials to keep memories. However, there actually are some basic rules to follow in order to make social media interaction as safe as possible.
Kaspersky, a global cybersecurity company, shed some light on the challenges that modern parents can face while interacting in a digital space, by creating a special survey for parents [1]. The campaign focused on different aspects of digital parenting including the sharing of photos, the discussions about children’s digital life, cyberbullying and its consequences, the usage of tracking tools such as geolocation.
Speaking about photo sharing, it is a very burning topic as it provokes many hot discussions and the behaviour of parents is not so harmless. It was estimated that 53% of South Africans post their children’s photos on social media (with 32% posting them 1-2 times a month) and 11% of them allow strangers to see them which brings some associated risks. The goals of such an extensive sharing vary, but the interesting fact is that usually, people want to keep memories (56%) and just consider it an important part of their lives (27%).
It goes on with the fact that 30% of South African parents, who participated in the survey, admit that photos with children gain more likes and comments than the ones without them.
“Modern parents face a big set of new challenges considering new opportunities that emerge. It is complicated to distinguish between a safe sharing and compromising a child’s safety, however, it is crucial to set aside the urge to overshare with an aim of getting popular, as it may be quite dangerous. According to Kaspersky’s survey for parents, 41% of parents post their child’s name, while 35% publish information about the child’s hobbies, and it is quite a harmful tendency,” explains Maher Yamout, Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky.
To safeguard our children’s data and share safely, Kaspersky strongly recommends following this advice:
- Limit access to your social media profiles and make them visible to friends only (but always mind that you add to the list of friends the people you know personally). Do not forget about general safety settings such as two-factor authentication in the Instagram app and a secure password.
- Do not share the materials that may cause any harm for your child – that includes personal photos and videos, other information that is not meant for public – the contacts of your child, the name of their school, etc.
[1] The “Responsible Digital Parenting” survey was implemented in conjunction with Toluna research agency in the end of 2019 – beginning of 2020. The survey included 5000 respondents from META region and Baltic states
