Gone are the days when adults are at the risk of having their online identity stolen and misused, today the problem of privacy online, identity theft is equally common among kids more than any other age group. So, for tweens, it is quite hard to maintain their online privacy due to lack of awareness about what information is safe to share on the digital world or what sort of privacies are on the site and digital devices they are using at the moment. Young teens are more likely to share their private information online and they are not even cautious when it comes to secure their private data or information.
So, these things do not come as surprise currently, teens have clear credit reports and also have unused social security numbers no time ever before. However, the rising issue of identity theft, online privacy among youth is very common these days it’s more likely to be a parenting blind spot.
According to Carnegie Mellon Studies
The study says it is more than 40000 children, under the age of 18 are twice as compare to their parents have become the victim of identity theft.
- Almost 84% of the secondary schools –aged pupils say they are fully aware of how to change settings on social networks
- 75% of the parents are concerned about their kids’ personal safety online
71% of the parents used to of warning their children not to provide out your personal information online
Why Teens and Kids Experience Identity Theft and Online Privacy Issues?
Share private information online
Kids are quite sharp these days in terms of online activities but at the same time, they are innocent to share private information likewise home address, cell phone number, surname, and others on social media. Experts have their opinion to start an awareness campaign at schools. However, according to the data of the children’s E-Safety commissioner shows that youth are at huge risk of identity theft & online privacy.
- Almost 39% of kids using social media share personal information on social media
- 24% of the kids have shared photos in school uniform, home address
- 8% of young kids have shared personal contact number
Don’t check credit reports
Teens those have access to their parent’s credit cards stuff like that they rarely check the reports. So, in return due to privacy breaching or because of identity theft thieves get started to use the teen’s credit card credentials don’t even get caught. Moreover, when young teens are using bank slates they actually allow identity thieves got very easy access to first-time credit card offers or loans.
Unused social security number
Teens also have got unused social security numbers and these are quite fascinating among the online security thieves because they can easily pair them with any name and birth date. So, identity thieves can sell the social security number to someone for illegal motives such as for criminal activities online.
Teens also share banking info
It is quite common these days those teens can share the credit card number to any friend in order to buy tickets for any kind of sports match or also get passes for movie theaters. So, if the friend is not trusted worthy enough he/she can misuse the information with having the wrong intentions.
Cell phones and gadgets of teens could misplace
Spy on young tweens, teens these days are obsessed with the cell phone; computer devices could be full of personal data in terms of inappropriate photos, sensitive information, and with others alike. So, these kinds of digital devices can be theft or lost may come under the possession of the wrong person. So, teens may have to face serious issues likewise they can face embracing situations if the data carried out on the web or someone can steal the information to use it for monetary reasons.
Unsecured Wi-Fi usage
Young teens are used to using the internet especially Wi-Fi it could be very easy for the identity thief to get access to the unsecured Wi-Fi connection, hackers and online predators can clean up the credentials of your social messaging apps, get access to teen’s stored data into the devices. So, parents should warn their teens not to store such kind of mobile phone data that could breach then get viral and at the end of the day, teens have to face real sort of online shaming.
Single passwords for multiple online activities/sites/Apps
Social media apps of teens passwords are not usually strong ones where they have shared each and everything that could breach out their online safety could be at stake. So, the answer to the security questions that usually social messaging apps ask could be easy for the hackers, identity thieves for many others alike.
Teens know nothing about privacy online and identity theft
Teens usually become the victim of identity theft because they are not aware of the cyberbullying that harms teens online, as they don’t aware of online privacy and identity theft issues. So, at the end of the day, young kids become victims and got severe consequences. So, when teens realized that something has terrible happens it is too late. Identity theft can damage a teen’s ability to get student loans, get a cell phone, get employment, and as well as a secure place to live. So, these types of issues or obstacles take a long time to end up with. However, young teens could get kidnapped, abducted staled by stalkers may encounter with the plenty of online predators due to sharing their privacy online.
Signs You Teens or Kids Identity and Online Privacy has been Compromised
- Parents can check out their bills for something they have not to order for
- You may get emails from the organizations they don’t aware of
- You may get letters about the same sort of benefits or tax payments
- Your teens inappropriate photos get viral or someone tries to blackmail teens to pay for the photos or they will leak out on the web
- Teens lose social media websites credentials and it means got hacked
Parents Should Monitor Teens Online to Prevent Identity Theft and Online Privacy
The very first step for parents is aware of their young teens about the importance of online privacy including social media activities regarding the safety of the credentials. So, parents should guide their teens on how they can set privacy and put their social messaging apps at custom mode to protect their online privacy in terms of messages, conversations, shared media files photos, videos. Moreover, aware teens not make too many accounts on the single social media apps, websites not to use unsecured internet connections at school, railway stations even on airports.
Moreover, parents can monitor teens’ cell phone & computer machines using mobile phone and PC monitoring software. You can monitor social media activities to view their profiles either they have done something regarding privacy or further get to know about stored data, shared multimedia. Parents can perform live screen recording on digital devices to keep an eye on their activities in terms of browser activities, visited apps, websites, email sent/received, and last but not the least applied passwords.
Conclusion:
Cell phone and computer surveillance app is the best tool for parents to protect teens from breaching of online privacy as well as to prevent teens from identity theft.