Safeguard your child’s online presence

KAROO NEWS - As soon as your child starts to use the internet, you should begin to talk about what they might find there.

Help them understand that sometimes they may come across things they’d prefer not to see, or that you would prefer they didn’t see.

Social media law expert Emma Sadleir of the Digital Law Company says that if your child has a smartphone, you should ensure that he or she is using the device as safely as possible.

However, as a parent, it might be hard to know how to secure your child’s online presence. It is important to explain age limits and age-inappropriate sites. It might also be helpful to agree on ground rules and which websites and apps are best to use.

These should include the search engines they use to find information. You can switch on features such as Google SafeSearch and enable the YouTube safe mode to make sure they find age-appropriate results. There are a number of apps available and other steps you can take to help safeguard your child’s online experience.

These include parental control apps, and assisting your child in setting up his or her social media accounts. “While parental control apps are a great place to start, remember that no app can replace healthy and frequent conversations and check-ins with your child about practising good digital citizenship and staying safe online,”

Digital Law Company’s online safety tips

Google’s Family Link app

Good for: Setting daily limits, content restrictions and defaults, night-time downtime, remote locking, live location tracking, tips for families, usage tracking and reports and approval for app purchases.
Not good for: Different time limits for different apps, monitoring and tracking messages and contacts, and call tracking and blocking.
Set-up: Free to download from the Apple App Store or Google Play. You and your child will both need Gmail accounts and will both need to download the app on your respective devices. On your phone, you create a family manager account that controls the other devices.

Apple’s Screen Time app

Good for: Managing downtime, app limits and ‘always allowed’ features, content and privacy restrictions, usage tracking and reports, and password approval for more screen time.
Not good for: Monitoring and tracking messages and contacts; call tracking and blocking; blocking adult content from sources other than the Safari browser, such as content on YouTube and Instagram apps; use on non-Apple devices; live location tracking (though available on Apple devices in general); a ‘kill switch’ to remotely shut down your child’s device; and multiple downtimes for different apps.
Set-up: Go to settings, screen time, tap ‘turn on screen time’, tap ‘continue’, select ‘this is my device’ or ‘this is my child’s device’. Use Family Sharing to configure your child’s device from your device.

WhatsApp Messenger

This messaging platform allows users to send each other messages and media, as well as make voice and video calls. Users are only able to contact someone if they have their cellphone number on their device. Groups can be created with up to 250 users.

They can message each other collectively, rather than on a series of one-on-one chats. The platform also has a ‘stories’ feature, similar to Snapchat’s one. A person’s privacy settings can be altered so that their profile picture, status and ‘story’ can either be viewed by everyone, only by the contacts they have saved in their device, or only by themselves.

Age restriction: 13+ Similar apps: Telegram, Facebook Messenger, BBM, WeChat, Viber.
Concerns: Groups pose a large risk. If anything offensive or illegal is happening on a group, you could be held liable as the person responsible for the content – even by just being a member of the group (even if you weren’t the one who shared the content and you didn’t engage with it). If this happens, either actively voice your disapproval on the group, or leave the group.
Suggested privacy settings: In the ‘account’ section under settings, go to privacy and only let your contacts see your profile photo and status.

Instagram

This social media apps allows people to post pictures and videos for their followers to see. It also has a ‘stories’ feature. A user can either let anyone follow them or have a private account so that they have to pre-approve followers first. The platform also has a direct messaging system, which allows users to chat to their followers and send them pictures and videos that disappear after being viewed – be warned, though, that a screenshot could be taken of the post before it vanishes.

Instagram also includes a ‘live’ video feature, which lets you connect with your Instagram audience in real time. Age restriction: 13+

Concerns: Instagram has unfortunately become a breeding ground for cyberbullying, often as a result of how easy it is for one to create an account under a pseudonym. In addition, many parents may not follow their children, and thus can’t see what they’re doing. Children are also susceptible to predators and catfishers (people who set up fake profiles) who use Instagram as a platform to initiate contact. The ‘live’ feature makes it easy to lose control of content, as it’s more difficult to moderate things when they’re happening live, as opposed to moderating a photo you post. Going live can also reveal more information about a person and their home than they realise.
Recommended privacy settings: In the ‘options’ menu, go to ‘account privacy’ and make your account private.

Snapchat

This messaging platform allows users to send videos, pictures and messages to one another, which disappear after they’ve been opened. The application also has a ‘stories’ feature, in which users can post an image or video that can be viewed by their friends for 24 hours.

Users can either have an open account (anyone can send you messages and view your ‘stories’), or a private account (only people accepted as your friend can send you messages and view your stories). The app also has a ‘discover’ feature, which provides stories from various news and media outlets.

Age restriction: 13+

Concerns: Snapchat can be used for sexting and sending nudes as the pictures disappear after being viewed and the user is notified if a screenshot is taken of their picture. However, it is possible to bypass this and take a screenshot without the user being notified. Another concern is the misconception that content is deleted and has disappeared once it’s been sent, yet Snapchat retains the information and complete ownership of it (according to their T&Cs).
Recommended privacy settings: Make the account private so that only friends you’ve added can communicate with you, receive your snaps, and see your story. If you have used ‘find friends’ to search for your friends, or if you go to settings and enable ‘let others find me using my mobile number’, friends with your phone number will be able to find you on Snapchat. It is suggested that you opt out of the ‘let others find me using my mobile number’ feature. To do this, tap on the settings logo in the upper-right corner of the profile screen, tap ‘mobile number’, and tap the button next to it to exclude your mobile number from other users’ ‘find friends’ feature.

Facebook

This app allows users to share text posts, pictures, videos, links and ‘stories’ with their friends. Their profile contains personal information, such as the user’s age, education and career, as well as anything else they may want to share. Who sees this info is determined by the privacy settings of the individual user. Users will typically follow ‘pages’ that share information pertaining to their interests. They may also join groups where users share a collective wall and share information that others may find interesting. Users can also contact each other using Facebook Messenger.

Age restriction: 13+

Concerns: It is easy for predators and catfishers to operate on Facebook. One can quickly amass a group of mutual friends (many of whom may never have met face to face), making it more likely for a potential victim to accept a friend request from someone they do not know.
Recommended privacy settings: In the ‘about’ section on your profile, you need to go to each individual piece of information and select who is allowed to see it. We suggest as a minimum, only friends are allowed to see your information. It is recommended that you pre-approve any tags that may link you to other people’s posts. To do this, go to ‘settings’ and in the left column, click ‘timeline and tagging’. Look for the setting ‘review tags people add to your own posts before the tags appear on Facebook?’ and click ‘edit’ on the far right. Select ‘enabled’ from the dropdown menu.

Tinder

A dating app that matches users when they both ‘swipe right’ to indicate that they find each other attractive. The app only shows users other users that are in the same area as them. Once matched, users are able to chat to each other.

Age restriction: 17+

Concerns: People are particularly susceptible to catfishing on dating sites. Therefore, if your child is under 18, they should stick to meeting people organically.

Recommended privacy settings: If you’re worried about people seeing you on the app, you can turn on a setting that will allow people to see you only once you have ‘swipe right’ on them. Similar apps: Chat & Date (previously Hot or not).