5 Ways to Protect your Kid’s Phone

Privacy and security go hand in hand. This is especially true with a kid’s mobile phone. Their phone contains lots of personal information that anyone who has access to it can see. In order to keep their information private, kids need to keep their device secure. With kids, the two big security issues are losing their phone or downloading a bad app.

According to Lookout, 30 billion phones are lost a year. In Seattle, we lose our phones on average twice a year. So far, my kids have not lost of device although one did go through the washer and dryer. But, at some point someone is going to lose a phone. Anyone who finds their phone will have access to their information such as contacts, pictures and messages as well as their open accounts such as Twitter, or Facebook.

The other threat kids may encounter is downloading a bad app. A report by McAfee found 1 in 6 mobile apps contain malware or spyware. Kids who love to download apps may end up with one of these characters. These malicious apps can do anything from sending annoying pop up ads to stealing personal information.

To protect privacy, make sure your kids are implementing these simple security tips.

It’s Super Facebook Log off!

This week, I tried the super Facebook log off. I first read about the super log off on danah boyd’s (she doesn’t capitalize her name) blog. She is a researcher at Microsoft Research and a Fellow at the Harvard Berkman Center who studies kids and their interaction with social media. She  brings a unique perspective and has changed my thinking on kids and social media.

The super-log off is basically deactivating a Facebook account. Deactivated users maintain all of their friend connections, wall posts, photos. While the account is deactivated, no one else can see their profile, post on their wall or tag them in photos until they reactivate. Deactivating and reactivating an account is as easy as logging off.

So, why should kids adopt the super Facebook log off?

• reduces the amount of time spent monitoring privacy settings.
• less likely to accidentally forget to log off. Many kids do not realize closing the Facebook window does not log a user out of Facebook. An open account on a friend’s or library’s computer can lead to others posting to their timeline.
• eliminate someone posting something without their knowledge.

To do the super Facebook log off:

• click on “Account” on the top right side of the page so that the Account menu drops down,
• click “Account Settings,” and the “My Account” page will appear
• go to the very bottom of the “My Account” page, where you will see “Deactivate Account”.
• click the “Deactivate” link on the right. The Deactivate Account page will appear.
• select your reason for leaving from the list. Select the option for “Temporary Leave.” You can also choose not to receive email notifications from friends while you are away from facebook.
•  click the blue “Confirm” button. A password box will appear where you enter your Facebook password and the security code. Once you have entered those, your account will be deactivated and no one will be able to post anything there.
• to reactivate your account, simply log back in with your email address and password.