Online safety for Kids

Parents around the world have been understandably shaken by the hacking of a VTech database containing information on 6 million children who use the company’s toys.

Experts say that even the most basic personal information about children, including names, ages and genders, could be used to start building profiles, which could eventually lead to identity theft or worse.

What’s a parent to do? Parents can simply use false information when they set up their child’s profiles for various gadgets, such as VTech’s tablets. And most of the time, it’s OK to not to create a profile for your child at all.

Parents also should be wary when they post about their kids on social media sites such as Facebook. They should make sure that their privacy settings restrict those posts to just people they actually know. And it’s a good idea, in general, to avoid Twitter, as those posts go to the entire world.

Meanwhile, parents should be having constant conversations with their kids so they know how to play it safe online.