For many years, parents have been concerned about their child’s personal information and safety. Today with the internet, social media, and cell phones, it is so easy for children to on purpose or even by accident to share personal information with other 
people who may or may not take advantage of it.
This is the reason why you need to be aware of what your children are doing on their cell phones. This type of Cyber awareness is something that can help you safeguard personal information giving you the tools to fight back against this growing problem.
First, it is a good idea to have an understanding of what children are doing on their cell phones today besides simply making phone calls. According to the data from Cyber Security Awareness Month, kids are using their phones for a variety of things.
- 95% text regularly with 94% making frequent phone calls.
- 87% take personal pictures and videos with their cell phones.
- 3/4ths are frequently posting things about their life on social media accounts like Facebook and surfing the internet.
- 64% are in the habit of downloading and using apps on their mobile devices.
Each of these are ways of giving out personal information to other people even if it is not necessarily shared. For example, a child could download what they believe to be a cool app when in reality it is full of malware that takes their personal information, photos, and other data from the phone. This is just like it happens on a PC where the user will be unaware of what is going on until it is too late.
What are some ways of protecting your child?
It is a good idea to personally monitor what is going on with your child’s cell phone. Look at what types of pictures they are taking and receiving. Find out who they are texting or talking to. Keep an eye on their social networking activities.
Learn what applications they are using on their phone. Do they require personal information to use? Do they require a fee to use the application? Is the application safe and free of all forms of malware? These are relevant things to be checking on devices that have your child’s personal information on.
Some people also choose to use various protection applications that will help solve some of these problems. These not only protect against things like malware in various applications but can give parents a better understanding of things like what websites the child is visiting, what they are doing on their phone, how much time they spend on their phone, and other bits of useful information. It will not do the whole job for your as a parent where you are no longer involved but does provide you the tools and peace of mind that is needed when concerned about your child’s safety and personal information.
Asurion’s app center has information on how you can protect your child’s cell phone from malware, locate and lock their phone, sort through photos, and so much more. I think we take things for granted. We assume our kids, especially when we know they are good kids, can’t get into things but the truth is, they can and do. It’s our job as parents to take measures to limit those things from happening.
What are you doing to protect your child’s phone?
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