Youth Privacy and Data Protection Infographic

The Youth Privacy and Data Protection 101 infographic provides an overview of the opportunities and risks for kids online, along with potential protection strategies. It also features young people’s voices from around the world on their preferences and attitudes toward privacy.

Risks for youth online include well-known concerns such as coming across age-inappropriate content, encountering predators, and being a victim of cyberbullying or cyber harassment. Other, less visible risks include commercial exploitation through profiling and targeted marketing as well as societal shifts such as surveillance normalization, as young people may become accustomed to constantly being watched and recorded.

Of course, there are also a wealth of opportunities for youth online. With school closures due to the pandemic, many students now access their education virtually. Unable to connect with their friends and communities in person, young people rely on social media and other online tools to play, build their communities, explore their identities, and participate in civic and political forums. Online spaces are also integral to fostering creative expression and providing resources related to health and well-being.

The Youth Privacy and Data Protection 101 infographic highlights the strategies that governments, online service providers, educators, parents, and others can use and encourage them to find that appropriate balance between protecting kids online and not limiting their opportunities. These strategies include limiting access to age-inappropriate content, requiring age verification before accessing a service, and incorporating privacy into services by default. Those strategies and others that policymakers may wish to consider are discussed in detail in FPF’s latest blog post, available here.