safetyAll our Privacy Parent articles about or related to increasing your and your children’s safety online.
All our Privacy Parent articles about or related to increasing your and your children’s safety online.
December 15th, 2020
If you’re going to use Instagram, be smart about it and take control. Setting your account to “Private” restricts who can see your posts. Dig a little deeper into the app’s “settings” to limit the amount of personal information the harvests from your posts and control, somewhat, the ads you see. You’ll end up with a safer, more private account that sheds a bit less data from Instagram, Facebook and their advertisers to collect.
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August 6th, 2020
Protect your phone number and protect yourself. If a form on a website asks for it, think twice before typing it in. The more widely distributed your phone number is, the easier it is for companies to track your behavior online and serve up ads to you. And because your phone number is so closely tied to your identity, it’s a prize for hackers, too. Keep it close and protect yourself. If your kids have phones,…... Continue reading >
July 8th, 2020
A private Instagram account is a better Instagram account because its a safer Instagram account. It’s also really quick and easy to do. Here’s a brief how and why to get you on your way to private, better, safer Instagram.
First, the Why
If your Instagram account is public, that means anyone with access to the app can look at your posts, send you direct messages and see when you’re active…... Continue reading >
April 7th, 2020
Editor’s note: Zoom has just released a package of security enhancements, part of an initiative the company’s calling Zoom 5.0. Read more about it here.
The antidote to self-isolation and social-distancing? Zoom. Virtually unheard of in mainstream America a month ago, Zoom, a video conference app, is suddenly everywhere, allowing coworkers to collaborate from home and kids to show off their latest paintings to amazed grandparents. But why Zoom? And, with reports of…... Continue reading >
January 28th, 2020
If you’re new to password managers, an introduction is in order. A password manager is an application that you use to automatically generate unique passwords for each of your accounts. You provide security for all of these passwords by entering a single master password into the privacy manager itself.
Why are password managers useful? Think of all the apps, online stores, banks, social media accounts you regularly use. There are a lot, right? Each…... Continue reading >
October 30th, 2019
There’s almost always a semi-secret way to sneak into a website’s off-limits areas, and very often, your kids know about it before you do. This goes for age-restricted content on YouTube, too.
Elsewhere on this site, we’ve covered the use of VPNs to breach firewalls and masking apps that disguise the programs a smartphone is running. Here’s another deceptive—and surprisingly simple—trick parents ought to know about: adding the letters NSFW to…... Continue reading >
April 9th, 2019
And that’s not a good thing.
If your children own or are allowed to use a smartphone, chances are good that they have installed the Snapchat app to communicate with their friends. Indeed, Snapchat is among the top five social media apps used by children, according to a report from ABC. Often, it’s merely a fun diversion. But sometimes, there are risks.
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March 24th, 2019
Modern gaming revolves around online connectivity. Without it, playing games like Animal Jam and Fortnite is impossible. Although these games claim to be “free” to play online, there’s always a price to pay for this level of access. And in the case of online gaming, that price is a wealth of personal information that’s made available to gaming companies.
Downloading a mobile game typically prompts a series of requests for “permissions.” These have become…... Continue reading >
March 22nd, 2019
The Internet is a miraculous. Without it, the world would be exceedingly bleak.
But as with any tool, it can be abused by those looking to harm others. This is particularly important when considering children who have access to the Internet.
Online predators are a very real danger in 2019, and you need to know how to protect your kids from them. Following are steps you can take to do…... Continue reading >
September 6th, 2018
Is there a vulnerability hidden in your smartphone or laptop mics and cameras? Is someone truly listening through your active listening devices such as your Alexa or Google Home? Are you being watched? Parents, are your kids being watched?
The reality is that nothing—including hardware—is truly safe from hackers. There are ways to protect your smartphones, computer webcams and even your baby…
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