When your child uses the Internet, they might be tempted to get involved in personal conversations with strangers, or fill in forms to access games or interesting websites. The problem with this is they might give out personal information to the wrong person and bring harm to theirself or the entire family.
Personal information includes anything personal, including the following:
*First, middle, or last name
*Age
*Race
*Gender
*Hair and eye color
*Height and weight
*Shoes and clothing sizes
*Home address
*Phone number
*Parent work number
*Cell phone number
*School name or address
*Parent's name or work address
Personal information can also be indirectly related to the child. It could be the name of a ball team they play on and what team they are playing this Friday night. It could be their jersey number, favorite hang-out spot in town, favorite movie theater, etc.
Online predators gather little pieces of information such as the ones above and put the pieces together one by one to locate certain children and trap them or kidnap them. It might not happen in only one conversation, but over a series of many conversations.
Tips to Protect Personal Information Online
Create emails for yourself or your child that do not contain your real names. Use codenames that are unrelated to your real names. Also, teach your child how predators work so they will understand that the "kid" on the other end of the computer line might not really be a kid at all. It might be a predator waiting to pounce!
If you have a teen, they should be taught about this as well. They are even more at risk because of peer pressure and curiosity. Explain to them the potential harm and danger of the Internet. Also, never give them a cell phone or handheld computer with Internet access. If they have the ability to access the Internet from anywhere at any time, then they are no longer under your protection.
Avoid these Seemingly Harmless Acts
Imagine this scenario: You're surfing the Web to find weight loss tips. You find a friendly forum at a reputable weight loss site and begin posting questions in the forum. You find it helpful as you begin to chat with others who are also trying to lose weight. Then, you become very comfortable and post a photo of yourself. You might even post two photos - before and after weight loss! Then, you post a photo of your children for your forum "friends" to see.
This might seem harmless for you or your child to do, but it's really dangerous. You don't know what type of person might be watching that particular forum for personal "clues" to find a victim. It's not worth the risk.
Financial Woes
Your child should also be warned about giving out financial information such as the name of your bank, credit card numbers, social security number, etc. Once this information gets into the hands of a criminal, it might take years to get things back to normal.
With so much fraud going on and so many online predators out there in cyberspace, protecting your personal information and teaching your child to do the same is a wise move. Your lives and livelihood depend on it!