Kids are at home all day now, remote learning and surfing the web more than ever before. Parents are working from home too, and understandably are not always able to monitor and supervise their children’s computer use as much as they should or would like to.

Scammers, fraudsters and evil doers know this and are taking advantage of the new situation. Children have always been targeted online, through social media and other platforms, and parents and children have repeatedly been warned about the danger that the web poses to them. But now, when children are not attending school offsite all day, and the requirement to attend school online has children sitting in front of their laptop more hours a day than ever before, their risk of becoming a target is higher than ever before.

During this time, remember to have conversations with your children reminding them about safe online use and sharing on social media. Discuss the things to consider when downloading apps, including reading the privacy policy, and if the app requests the sharing of any personal information, emphasize that they are legally required to obtain parental consent. Remind them about how apps collect their data, including allowing access to the microphone, camera and location-based services, and turning off those capabilities when the app is not being used.

This is an opportune time to be thinking about and discussing privacy with your children, and to protect them from those who are using this difficult time to victimize.

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