Privacy and your child

Get involved and explore the online world alongside them 

Sit down together and check privacy settings on online accounts, apps and devices – ensure your child has selected the highest privacy setting. Learn how in parental controls or explore The eSafety Guide for links to help you understand and adjust privacy settings.

Play alongside your child in online games, or ask them to show you the games they’re playing, to see what kinds of information they may be sharing. Get to know the apps and devices your child is using. If you would like to learn more about individual apps, games or services, check The eSafety Guide.

Some gaming platforms like Steam, and streaming services like Spotify, have the option to share users’ activity or playlists with other people and apps. Children may not understand that their online activity could be public – or seen by their friends or connections –  unless they check and adjust their privacy settings, so explore the settings in their platforms and devices together.

Respect their privacy  

Think before sharing or tagging photos or videos of children (see 'Can I safely share photos or videos of my kids online?’).

If you are concerned that a photo or video of your child has been posted online without your permission, ask for it to be removed.

As a first step, you can ask the person who posted the photo or video to delete it. If the person refuses, or you do not know who posted it or do not feel able to contact the person, you may wish to report the content to the platform or service where it was posted.

Visit The eSafety Guide for more information about contacting or reporting material to platforms and services.

If the photo or video has been posted through your child’s school or a sporting club or other group, contact the organisation directly to raise your concerns. They should be able to refer you to their digital media policy, which should provide details about the type of photos or videos that can be posted, the way they will be used and how they obtain consent from parents or carers. 

Start setting good habits with your toddler or preschooler. It's never too early to start talking about safe behaviour online. 

You will find some advice on this in online safety basics and good habits start young. 

Advise them not to share personal information unnecessarily

Explain why they should avoid putting personal information on their social media and gaming profiles. This includes their phone number, date of birth, personal email address, passwords, home address, the name or address of their school, and photos or videos of landmarks that could identify where they go and what they do.

Help them understand that when online games, competitions, prizes and rewards require users to register and provide personal information like email address, interests, age and gender, this information is often used by marketers to promote products and services. It can also be misused if the company doesn’t have good security.

Make sure your child is aware of the advice about protecting personal information for kids and young people.

Encourage good password habits

Remind them to select passwords carefully and not to share these with friends.

Strong passphrases are hard to guess. Tell them to avoid using words and numbers that could be easily associated with them (like a pet’s name or a birth date). Long passphrases with a combination of numbers, letters and punctuation marks are more secure. You can also help them set up a password manager and multi-factor authentication. For more information see protect your personal information.

Ensure your child’s mobile devices have PIN locks or passcodes, so their personal information is safe if they lose their device.

Remind them about their digital reputation

Like all internet users, over time your child builds a digital or online footprint based on all the things they say and do online. Help them understand that this digital footprint can last forever and affect what people think of them well into the future.

Encourage your child to think before they post or share. Even if their profile is set to private, they can’t control what their friends will do with the content they post to a platform or share via a messaging service. Screenshots and screen recordings can be shared without them even knowing. Ask how they would feel if their photo, video or information was shared with people they don’t trust, such as a stranger or someone bullying them at school.

Remind them to also take care of the digital reputations of others. They should not post images or videos of others without their permission and should be careful when making comments about others.  

Talk with your child about the consequences of posting offensive material of themselves or others online. This includes material that may be confusing or distressing for similar-aged or younger friends. Explain that it may affect their social life, academic record or job prospects. There may also be legal consequences. Ask them how they would feel if some time in the future they couldn’t make friends with another person or get a job they really wanted because of something they posted online when they were younger. And remember – kids make mistakes as they learn and grow. If your child comes to you feeling unsure about something they've posted, try to listen and offer support without judgement. Creating that safe space helps them feel comfortable to keep coming to you when they need help. For more information on how to start the chat, see the hard-to-have conversations.

Make sure your child is aware of the advice about getting consent for sharing photos or videos – our pages for kids and young people can help you explain. You can also find information for young people about protecting their digital reputation.

Instead of just focusing on what your child shouldn’t share, you can also encourage your child to be an ‘upstander’ instead of a bystander. This means helping others if they are having a bad experience online. This encourages your child to think more carefully about how their online posts might affect others.

If they see someone being bullied, you can support your child to:

• ask the person being bullied if they’re OK
• call out the bad online behaviour, if they feel safe to do that
• help the person being bullied to find further support.

For more information, you can also show your child this page on how to be an upstander.

Be aware of online advertising and algorithms

Companies can build a profile of your child by compiling data of their online behaviour. You can help them control cookies and use add-ons and adblockers to help manage the amount of information companies can collect.

The behavioural data that companies collect can be used in a variety of ways. For example, social media, gaming, and video and music streaming platforms track user activity so they can target content to the users’ interests. The data processing calculations that do this are called ‘algorithms.’ The benefit for the user is that they have a personalised experience. However, it can also make it difficult to disengage from the platform and do something else if new and interesting material is constantly being fed to them.

Algorithms can also reinforce negative ideas. For example, a child might interact with content they find upsetting by calling someone out in a comment, or leaving a ‘sad’ or ‘angry’ reaction on social media. However, algorithms often do not take into account whether engagement is positive or negative, so they may continue to serve similar content to your child. It’s a good idea to help them understand that their online experiences are influenced by these tech company algorithms, so they may not see a balance of content that reflects the world realistically.

See our Online Safety Advisory around how algorithms are shaping our adolescents.

Help them understand about sexual images and the law

Explain that they may be committing a criminal offence when taking and/or sharing nude or sexual images of themselves or others who are under the age of 18.

As an adult, be very cautious if you have seen any content that may be child sexual abuse material, or otherwise show a child in a sexualised way. Do not intentionally view the material, or save it, forward or share it in any way. Online child sexual exploitation and abuse, including online grooming and inappropriate contact, should be reported to the Australian Federal Police-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE).

You can find more advice on this in  sharing nudes and sexting.