Beware! Children are disclosing a lot more than their first names on social media

MUMBAI, INDIA: Are you worried that your children are disclosing much more than they should, on social media? What else is it that you don’t know about their online behaviors?

Well, personal information such as the school name, personal email id, date of birth and much more figure in data which the children are sharing publicly on social media.

What’s more startling according to an Intel Security study is 44 percent of Indian children have admitted meeting or wanting to meet a stranger they first met online.

Some of the other key findings include:

•    81 percent of the children within the age 8–16 years old indicate that they are active on social media networks

•    77 percent children had created their Facebook account even before they turned 13.

•    48 percent parents believe that the worst thing that could happen to their children is interacting with strangers online.

•    91 percent parents claim to have had a discussion with their children about the risks of social media, interacting with strangers is not one of the primary topics.

•    90 percent parents indicate that they would monitor all of their child’s online activities across all devices if they could.

•    64 percent children indicate to hide (some of) their online activity from their parents indicating that even parents that do keep a watchful eye, are often deceived by what they see.

•    83 percent parents claim to know the kind of activities that their child regularly participate in while online

•    56 percent children claim that they would change their online behaviour when they knew their parents were watching and

•    43 percent children use anonymous names or aliases for their social media profiles

•    27 percent children know other people’s password

•    61 percent children have accessed those people’s account without them knowing.  Main reasons cited are to see if they were talking to an ex (64percent), wanted to see their private photos (49 percent) or wanted to dig up dirt on them (42 percent).

•    43 percent of the children active on social media claim to have witnessed cruel behaviour on social networks

•    52 percent of the children indicate that they have bullied people over social media themselves. Of these, 27 percent made fun of others, 24 percent called someone fat or ugly or made fun of other physical appearances, and 23 percent tagged mean pictures.

•    Reasons cited for cyber bullying another child were because the others were mean to them (49 percent) or they just don’t like the other person (28 percent).

According to Intel Security, the most discussed topics are cyber criminals and identity theft at 71 percent, privacy settings at 62 percent, cyber bullying at 57 percent, online reputation at 53 percent or popularity among friends at 52 percent, respectively.

However, only about 17 percent parents are interested in finding out if their children are interacting with strangers online, the company observed in the report.

Of the children who are active on social media, 69 percent have published photos, 58 percent have posted their email address, 49 percent have posted the name of their school, 46 percent have posted their full birth date or phone number (42 percent).

This indicates that while parents believe that interacting with strangers online may be risky, this knowledge has not translated into remedial action, Intel Security said.

The good news is that a large number-82 percent of children are concerned about maintaining the privacy of their personal information.

“Due to the proliferation of connected devices like smart phones, tablets and laptops, an unprecedented level of personal data is now available online, expanding the risk canvas exponentially. We believe that increased education and usage of technologies like parental controls, content filtering and creation of activity logs will play a huge role in empowering parents to ensure a safe digital footprint for their children.” said Venkat Krishnapur, Head, Operations, India Development Center, Intel Security.