How to Protect Your Children Online
During the lockdown, many parents seemed to rely on devices to help fill their children's abundant free time.
Ipsos has produced research in the US on the topic - ‘Media and the screen time: the new babysitters?’. They found out that kids seem to be getting more screen time overall whilst ‘44% of parents in the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index report that they are letting their children watch more television than usual’.
In the UK, the NSPCC posted last January that there are an ‘estimated 90 cyber crimes recorded a day against children’, and that before the lockdown. In England and Wales, ‘one online abuse offence against a child was recorded every sixteen minutes’ and The Cyber Helpline received a marked increase in cases in some way involving children. New household routines might be put in place during the lockdown and the higher exposure of children to screen time might continue afterwards, on top of the online dangers already in existence. For this reason, this article covers what you should be aware of and how to take action.
Where the Threats Are
An article entitled ‘Digital Safety in the Era of Connected Cots and Talking Teddies’ identified three main internet usages by children:
1. Online, in their use of digital apps, services or content;
2. Via devices employed around the home;
3. In services used outside the home.
The article suggests that there is not enough research literature covering the last two points and this limits the discussion about safety guidance around internet usage. However, these last two points added a different perspective to what parents considered a threat when thinking about cybersecurity, for example: Internet-integrated toys. To illustrate some of this, this article shows examples of problems that can arise with some devices: ‘7 Creepy Baby Monitor Stories That Will Terrify All Parents’.
Also, on the same topic, at a talk which took place at the British Academy, Professor Victoria Nash (University of Oxford) came up with an interesting concept: ‘Three C’s – content, contact, and conduct’, which joined with ‘data, security and privacy’. The Three C’s ought to be a consideration that parents should have when thinking of children’s safety online.
On top of that, The Cyber Helpline would add the fourth ‘C’, which is ‘commercialism’. According to the UK Safer Internet Centre, it is important to encourage children to keep their personal information private as sometimes their privacy can be affected by advertising and marketing schemes. This can result in spending money online inadvertently as well as unwanted information of the family being shared.
Image: BBC News
What are the threats? Read these real cases reported to The Cyber Helpline...
The Cyber Helpline believes that all the things we see happening with adults can also be seen amongst children.
We have provided direct support to vulnerable users from 13 years old upwards. Although parents have contacted us in respect of children under 13, these have been less common, which suggests that parents tend to deal with it themselves.
We tend to deal with two of the four Cs cited above in this blog post: Conduct & Contact.
To illustrate the cases we worked on recently, here are three examples:
1st Example – ‘Conduct’ followed by ‘Contact’
A 15-year-old boy shared a video of himself online which contained sexual content (what we would call ‘the conduct’). He was tricked into doing it without knowing the real identity of who was behind the other screen, which turned out to be someone from his school. From that, the "contact" got in touch threatening to share the content around the school.
After engaging in certain conduct online, kids seem to be ashamed to ask for help. They can share information they shouldn’t and need to get some help. In this particular case, the boy was worried to seek help in case the helper would tell his parents and we built the bridge to get in touch with the police and seek help.
2nd Example – ‘Contact’
Sometimes, children are contacted by strangers involuntarily for grooming or bullying.
A girl aged around 13 to 14 had someone take a picture of her and post it on Facebook and make threats to her and people she knew.
Before moving to the third example, it is important to highlight that sometimes children can be the aggressors to other children and/or adults. They are not always victims and, therefore, parents should be involved in this dialogue to be able to reinforce good conduct online. As an example, we advised teachers who have been harassed online or hacked by their students.
3rd Example – The child as an intermediator of an abuser...
We have seen cases of parents and/or ex-partners gifting devices to children which contain malicious apps, such as location trackers or voice recognition software. The intention behind this was to cyberstalk and control their ex-partners.
Understanding the prevention elements discussed further in this article helps not only to protect children but to avoid letting them be used as a tool for any type of cyber abuse.
How You Can Prevent It
Acknowledgement is a good way to start.
First of all, parents being aware that devices require data exchange would benefit the decision as to whether or not to be okay with the exchange of data that is being made. Simultaneously, acknowledging the social interactions the child might have over the internet, understanding the internet is an environment susceptible to harm – as in the physical world, cyberbullying and grooming can happen - and thus internet usage needs parental supervision.
Openly discuss this with your children, explaining what they can share online and what are the content and interactions allowed. Build digital safety standards at home and build a positive environment where kids can report any discomfort they might face to you.
Get Help: What to Do When Things Go Wrong
Be aware: make sure you understand what accounts, apps and devices your child has access to. Research any apps (like using NetAware) to make sure you understand the risks and if you are comfortable.
Communication is key: ensure you chat to the child about the risks and let them know what to do if they see or experience something that upsets or scares them.
Education: help your child understand good cyber hygiene and work with them to implement it across their devices and accounts. Establish guidelines to keep personal information private and use a family email address when filling in online forms.
Control & care: there are lots of tools out there to help you monitor app usage and limit downloads etc.
If something does go wrong do not get angry. Work through it with them and let them know they did the right thing by coming to you.
Other actions you can take:
Do not use default passwords
Do your updates
Check for malware
Check Bluetooth standards
Think about age and content ratings
Check your wireless network: in case your wireless network at home is not configured to use WPA2, you can find out how to set this up in the user manual for your wireless router or your internet service provider’s website.
Block both pop-ups and spam emails
Turn off in-app purchasing on devices where possible
Need Help?
Chat to our chatbot on our ‘Get Help’ page. Our chatbot will ask you some questions and get you to summarise your issue. Once the chatbot has enough information, it will match your issue to a known type of cyberattack. If you need more help the chatbot will give you the option of speaking to one of our volunteers.
Support Our Cause
We hope that you have found our article useful.
The Cyber Helpline is funded entirely by donations from generous members of the public and businesses. Without these donations, we can not continue our vital work in supporting victims of cybercrime, including victims of cyberstalking. Please help us to keep The Cyber Helpline running and providing support to victims of cybercrime by donating monthly.
Further Resources from The Cyber Helpline