How To Protect Your Child's Online Privacy

Online Identity and child protection is a growing topic due to new tech products on the market. Software such as Siri and Amazon Echo are coming under fire for collecting kid’s information through their interactive software. Online Privacy Expert Anne Livingston stopped by the Digital Parent Podcast to discuss how parents can help protect their child’s online identity.

For the past 5 years, Anne has shared stories and tips for families about raising kids in the digital world on her blog Kids Privacy. Her articles have been featured on many parenting and security company websites. She also speaks to PTAs and parents about online privacy and offers parenting tutorials on managing a family’s devices and social media. Currently, she works with Familoop as their Digital Parenting Expert.

On the Digital Parent Podcast, Anne and I discussed some of the following topics:

Some Questions I Asked Anne About Online Identity:

-What are some ways for parents to child proof electronic devices?
-How can teens protect their privacy when using wifi in public places?
-What should parents do to prevent companies tracking personal info?
-How is the porn industry different today than the past?

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

-Why teens swapping passwords is dangerous?
-How to prevent digital kidnapping?
-How to create a strong password?
-How to protect your child against identity theft?
-How to Monitor Payment Apps like Paypal and Dwolla

Anne Recommends 5 Tips to Protect Cell Phone Privacy

Set a Strong Password
Passwords on a mobile device are extremely important. A password can stop someone from picking up their phone and seeing all of their information or tampering with their Twitter or Facebook profiles.

Keep your Apps Up to Date
Right after setting a password, this is one of the easiest and most essential security safeguards. Kids should not ignore those updates for apps or their operating system on their phones. Many of these updates contain important security patches that will protect their device.

Download Apps only from well-known sources
Many malicious applications are published outside of trusted app stores. Kids should only download apps from legitimate sources. They should also check permissions and make sure an app is not asking for too much access to their information.

Install a Find your Phone app
At some point, a kid will misplace their phone. If they have a find your phone app, they can quickly locate their phone before someone else finds it. Apple has Find my iPhone and Android has Where’s my Droid.

Enable remote wipe on their phone
If the phone is missing and all hope is gone, a remote wipe will erase their information.

You can purchase Anne’s Book Talking Digital: Tips and Scripts for Parenting in the Digital World on Amazon.

Resources Anne Mentioned During the Show:

KidsPrivacy: App Guides
KidsPrivacy: Safety Settings

How to Find Anne Livingston

At her Blog, Kids Privacy, on Twitter, and on Pinterest

Episode Sponsors
(Sed Lewis’ original podcast was sponsored, however Mamapedia itself has not been compensated in any way)

mSpy – Top Monitoring software on the market! Monitor all of the hottest teens apps such as Tinder, Snapchat, Kik, WhatsApp, Instagram, and many more.
KidsEmail – email client designed for kids! Multiple features and beautiful themes for teens to pick from for their email. type in Promo Code: Digital Parent to get Free 90 Day Trial.



Sedgrid Lewis is an internet safety expert, blogger, and host of the Digital Parent Podcast. He holds a Masters in Criminology specializing in Internet Crimes. Sedgrid specializes in social media and tech related crimes committed by juveniles. Sedgrid has been covered by Fox News, CBS News, NBC News, Readwrite, Gizmodo, and many more. You can follow Sedgrid on Twitter and Facebook