Privacy

It is estimated that 98% of millennials and teens are active on some form of social media. Ypulse, a site that reports on teen and millennial online behavior, recently posted five stats about social media that parents may find interesting. One finding states that 10-17-years-old “were really concerned” about what their parents posted about them on social media, and it was reported that kids were nearly three times more likely than parents to feel that there should be rules in place about what can be shared. When it comes to privacy, eight in ten millennials and teens would rather use a social network that only allows close friends to see their posts.

It is estimated that 98% of millennials and teens are active on some form of social media. Ypulse, a site that reports on teen and millennial online behavior, recently posted five stats about social media that parents may find interesting. One finding states that 10-17-years-old “were really concerned” about what their parents posted about them on social media, and it was reported that kids were nearly three times more likely than parents to feel that there should be rules in place about what can be shared. When it comes to privacy, eight in ten millennials and teens would rather use a social network that only allows close friends to see their posts.

Watchdog groups continue to be worried about the growing popularity of “smart” Internet-connected toys that pose significant privacy, security, and other risks to children. If you have any concerns about new toys your children may have received for the holidays, you should check out the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use to figure out what information is actually collected from children, how it is used, or where it ends up. Two toys that have been flagged that are of particular concern to experts are the Genesis Toys’ My Friend Cayla and i-QUE Intelligent Robot, both of which can record and collect private conversations and offer no limitations on the collection and use of personal information.

Watchdog groups continue to be worried about the growing popularity of “smart” Internet-connected toys that pose significant privacy, security, and other risks to children. If you have any concerns about new toys your children may have received for the holidays, you should check out the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use to figure out what information is actually collected from children, how it is used, or where it ends up. Two toys that have been flagged that are of particular concern to experts are the Genesis Toys’ My Friend Cayla and i-QUE Intelligent Robot, both of which can record and collect private conversations and offer no limitations on the collection and use of personal information.

About 98% of students want colleges and universities to use their personal data to improve the college experience, according to a recent survey by Wakefield Research. Students suggest they would like their data used to help them with things such as keeing track of graduation requirements and choosing courses. Of course, some of that data, including health information, may be pose a privacy risk but students seem to feel the benefits outweigh the risks.

About 98% of students want colleges and universities to use their personal data to improve the college experience, according to a recent survey by Wakefield Research. Students suggest they would like their data used to help them with things such as keeing track of graduation requirements and choosing courses. Of course, some of that data, including health information, may be pose a privacy risk but students seem to feel the benefits outweigh the risks.

USA Today has released a list of 7 things you should never do online. Most of it comes down to common sense like checking sources of information, avoiding over-sharing, and not using the same password for every site, but if you are thinking about syncing your social media accounts so the same message goes out over multiple platforms, you might want to think again. You also may seriously want to get onboard the “two factor authentication” train.  Of course we all know we shouldn’t get into arguments on social media but it can be like a siren’s song. Learn to resist.

Stengthening passwords is a recurring theme in this blog and in the mainstream technology press. The problem with regularly changing your passwords to keep them strong is that it makes them hard to remember. Recently, several new and updated password storage apps have come out – free or otherwise inexpensive – with great features like updating passwords, built-in browsers, and the ability to store work and personal passwords separately. Ready to take the plunge or update what you are already using? Take a look at After You Strengthen Your Passwords, Here’s How to Store Them.

Using passwords to keep student data safe is important, but teachers are getting smart about helping young students by using QR codes instead coping with impossible to remember and often difficult to type nine or ten digit passwords that are needed to start up computers and other digital devices. Lots of other changes in the classroom this fall are giving teachers more ways to use apps based on their student’s needs as well, including using sites like Newsela, a program which takes news articles and rewrites them for reading levels from second grade through high school. Right now, more than 850,000 teachers and 9 million students in the U.S. use the program.

Social media is one of the biggest challenges for cybersecurity in the education sector, according to a report from Wombat Security Technologies. The report found that education professionals missed about one-third of assessment questions related to safe social media use. This serves as a good reminder for parents that they should take an active part in helping kids stay safe online and in using social media properly, and not entirely depend on schools to cover these kinds of topics.