As children grow up, they need learn to use the internet and social media safely.
Here are some simple tricks to teach your children about online privacy and security.
1. Ground rules
Lay down a few basic guidelines. For example, start by telling that anything shared once on the internet stays there forever and that nothing is 100 per cent private.
2. Be careful with personal info.
Draw up a list for them and tell them that they should always check with you before sharing those details.
3. Password protection.
Advise your son or daughter on what kind of passwords to choose.
Tell them that the password should be a mix of characters andsymbols and ask them never to share their passwords with anyone.
4. Curb social media time.
5. Whatsapp
Sending messages on Whatsapp is something every teenager does, but they don¹t always know that their chats are not private.
Therefore, you should advise them never to share personal or bank details or other sensitive information like passwords via messages.
6. Dangers of free public Wi-Fi
Everyone love free Wi-Fi but cafes and shops might have unsecured Wi-Fi networks.
Explain to your children to be cautious when connecting to these networks as they can easily be monitored.
7. Game scams
Install games together with your children.
Only download the games only from a reputable source.
Fake games are continually uploaded online, which are made to look colourful and exciting on websites, prompting kids to install them for free, when in fact it¹s malware that could infect your device.
8. Chat rooms
New chat rooms, forums are popping up every day.
Children are eager to discuss their interests with peers but it is important to speak to them about sharing their private information. Under no circumstances should they share any pictures, addresses or passwords.
9. Freebies
If your children receive an email about a great offer it´s usually a trick designed to get one to give up personal information.
