Nick Kelly, Joby James
Data privacy is “the ability of a person to determine for themselves when, how, and to what extent personal information about them is shared with or communicated to others.’[1] Think about images, social media posts, identification, healthcare records, or anything that can be shared online. What you share and who you share it with are choices that have both short and long-term consequences.
You may have seen the headlines about data breaches and your information at risk. This is a problem for organizations but also for parents, teachers, students, and any of us who interact online.
Data Privacy for Individuals
When deciding to join social media platforms or download apps, it’s important to consider how they approach data privacy. Do they have privacy controls? Are those controls tied just to types of information or other considerations? Do they have adult/teen/child accounts with different privacy settings?
The Innocent Lives Foundation previously published a Guide to monitoring your child’s devices. These same considerations should extend to applications on computers, phones, tablets, and anything else that can connect to the Internet. In September 2024, Instagram launched Teen Accounts, including default settings that include “private accounts, restrictions on messaging, restrictions on who can tag and mention them, reminders to leave the app after 60 minutes each day, notifications muted overnight, and more.” [2] Controls like these are an excellent step from the social media platform, but the decision is still in the hands of the user…
..except for when it’s not. It’s important to monitor social media platforms and apps for changes to their privacy settings. In September 2024, LinkedIn launched a policy that members’ data would be used to train LinkedIn’s artificial intelligence.[3] (Members can opt-out by going to settings/data privacy and deselecting the option to train the AI.)
Telegram changed its policy to allow data to be shared with “valid legal requests.” [4] This includes IP addresses and phone numbers, though founder and CEO Pavel Durov (arrested last month in France on drug trafficking charges) assures that private chat content stays encrypted and is not subject to any investigations.
Social media companies routinely collect user data and run it against algorithms to serve up advertisements. This practice is called surveillance advertising or behavioral advertising. [5] This process has deep privacy concerns, but it also extends to psychological safety. If you have ever felt like your devices are listening to you and big companies are collecting information about you, chances are you are correct.
When speaking with your children or partners about this topic, consider the TRUST method developed by Robin Dreeke. The former head of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program developed this method to help promote an open dialogue with your children and ensure safe habits online. [6] Speak with your children about who they game with or share social spaces with online. Remind them that information like age, location, grade, or school shouldn’t be shared with anyone.
For younger children, discussing the need for chat or disabling it in games like Minecraft and Roblox is an option. For teens, tackling difficult topics like which materials they share in private messages may be necessary. It’s a difficult conversation, but it may keep them from dangerous situations in the future.
In the digital age, information is currency, and often, it is identity. Take these steps into consideration so that your information and that of your children is never traded nor sold.
