A few days ago it transpired that Gwyneth Paltrow, who has 5.3 million followers on Instagram, had had a small fight with her daughter, Apple Martin, after the 14-year-old girl called her mother's attention to climb to the social networks a photo in which she left.The important thing, beyond who is right, is that the issue has generated a discussion about where the limits on the information that parents should place they share their children on the networks.
Related We often think in a wrong way that young people don't care about their privacy, a belief fueled by advertising campaigns they give because they share their personal life in excess or do not understand what they are exposed to.However, as I have written on some occasion on the subject, parents may have to worry less than they think, given that young people tend to to handle privacy responsibly.or, it should be the parents, and not their children, who were most careful with their online activity.
Social networks are designed to promote user participation.It is almost impossible to escape from them, since disconnection can lead to social exclusion, so our lives are increasingly exposed.
Private citizens
We have reached a point where even schools hang data on children. The idea of the use of facial recognition is widely accepted to protect young people, as well as to carry out a Track your progress or improve your experience as students, but the truth is that, more and more, the information available online is stored without prior consent.
As the recent report of the UK Children's Commissioner points out, it is not fair to point out children and young people for sharing their lives in excess. The role of Parents have a lot of weight in the huge amount of data collected during the childhood of individuals, and the entire digital society is designed to obtain consent and encourage participation.In these terms, young people (and other marginal groups) do not usually have Another option to get into the wheel.
In a context in which the institutions are made with the data about the young people that the parents themselves share, it should not surprise anyone that the children are really worried about their privacy, but their concerns are different.> While adults try to keep their information from being stolen by companies, governments, hackers or stalkers, child and adolescent prevention goes in a different direction.
In particular, young people try to keep their publications out of reach of their teachers and family members. The youngest ones are also innovating to gain access to the specific types of privacy they want.
multiple identities
In general, they have the ability to manage multiple identities and to camouflage their communications.We all have different versions of ourselves that we show to others.We do not act in the same way at work, at home or with friends.However, the technology goes further and allows users to overshadow their activities with false accounts and hidden meanings.
Many young people have parallel profiles on the networks: feed Finstagram (an account where nothing is what it seems), where they upload content "suitable" for their family , while they reserve the real one for the profile that their friends are in.Youth demonstrates with these practices their capacity for adaptation and innovation in the use of technologies.
the data, the new oil
Companies try to show that the data is the new oil, that is, a product that can be marketed.However, this model loses its raison d'être when groups with less power enter society, formed by young people, but also by other groups marginalized by ethnic reasons, of age or sexuality.Instead, we should value personal information as a synonym for identity. Consent to collect it should be critical, as data breaches should be considered a type of identity theft.If we talk about privacy in these terms, Apple Martin would have every right to criticize the publication made by his mother.
Although slowly, the legislation is beginning to support this line of thinking.The General Regulation of Data Protection of the European Union, for example, points in a direction in which the user would have control over how and when they are collected and used your personal data.That is, the consent would be in your hands again.
But, what happens when it is the parents who destroy the privacy of the children? Nothing easier, since many people have a predilection for sharing photos of their children with family and friends Whatever the case, it is important to illustrate the little ones about online activities, data and privacy.To reinforce these teachings, parents should lead by example.
In wanting to show off our children, we shouldn't contribute to a system that normalizes vigilance and lack of privacy. They'll have enough of that when they grow up.Parents shouldn't give the impression that even The closest could exploit the data or the identity of the children, since the only thing that is achieved is that the young people see themselves as mere merchandise that can be bought and sold online as part of an immense series of data.: Parents should provide them with the necessary tools to protect themselves.
reach agreements
It is never too early to start.First-time parents should think seriously about how much they want to share about their children on the networks.This does not mean that they should keep everything within the private sphere, but should sit down and discuss it.and reach agreements on what is right and what is not, when and with whom to share what they want and communicate these decisions to family members and anyone who can, without realizing, "filter" images to a wider audience.
It is also not too early to educate in any case.Lately I have begun to ask my three-year-old son if he could share images in which he went out with my family or my friends.And yes, I have also asked him if he thought that I will mention you in this article.Every grain of sand counts.
minimize children's fingerprint on social networks
The Children's Commissioner of the United Kingdom has published 10 tips to minimize the fingerprint of children, including avoiding publications that reveal in some way their date of birth or location and address organizations dedicated to the study of the collection of data to know how and why companies carry out this practice.There are very good organizations, such as Doteveryone, Carnegie UK Trust and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.They all provide useful information and offer advice to anyone interested in improving your habits online.
It is important to talk to our children about consent in all areas of life, so privacy in networks should not be an exception.
Garfield Benjamin, Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Media Arts and Technology, Solent University
This article was originally published in The Conversation.Read the original.
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