Internet Safety: Parents

Personal information is any information or combination of information that enables an individual to be identified.

Personal information may include:

• full name
• address
• phone numbers
• school
• date of birth
• email address
• username and password
• bank details.

Personal information is used responsibly online by many businesses for legitimate communication. However this is not always the case and some personal information can be misused by criminals or inappropriately by marketers.

Disclosing personal information online

Many online services require users to provide some personal information in order to use their service. Prior to providing personal information, users should try to think about what can potentially be done with their personal information and assess whether they are still happy to pass on these details.

In addition to inappropriate or illegal use of information, disclosing personal information online can impact on the user’s digital reputation—the opinion that others hold about that person based on their online activities.

There are several online activities that may require a level of disclosure of personal information, these include:

• Shopping—to verify the identity of the purchaser, to process payments or for the delivery of goods.
• Subscribing or registering—a screen name or ID and an email address are often minimum requirements but other requested information may include: age, gender, address, photo and personal likes or dislikes. A red asterisk * generally identifies mandatory fields that are needed to register.
• Competitions, prizes and rewards—online competitions often require users to provide extensive personal data, including personal interests and demographic details. This is used by the promoters to develop their marketing strategies or products.
• Online games and virtual worlds—these may require registration details, which include personal information, before the user can begin to play.

Actions to protect personal information

It’s important to understand how personal information is used online and how to protect your information and digital reputation. Parents, should note the following tips as a basis for protecting personal information online:

• Only disclose financial information on secure websites. Look for an address beginning with https:// and a ‘locked’ padlock symbol in the bottom of the screen, which indicates that data is being encrypted. If in doubt about the legitimacy of a website, call the organisation it claims to represent. The SCAMwatch website provides further advice on how to identify and report potential scams.
• Providing information to your banking institution. Banking institutions will never email individuals asking for their user name or password. If you receive an email by an organisation claiming to represent a banking institution report the email to the bank and SCAMwatch. Do not respond and do not click on any links provided.
• Read user agreements and privacy policies. Many organisations use information for marketing purposes and may sell it to other marketing firms. If information is posted on websites that do sell information to marketers, individuals may receive promotional spam emails which can be difficult to stop.
• Reduce spam by protecting your details. Spam can be reduced by:
  • limiting disclosure of email addresses and mobile numbers
  • installing and using spam filtering software
  • checking the terms and conditions when purchasing products, entering competitions or registering for services or email newsletters
  • not allowing contact details to be used for marketing purposes
  • boosting online security to limit spam.

More information about spam and how to make a complaint is provided on the ACMA website.

• Understand that information shared online can be permanent – users may not have control over who sees or accesses their personal information. This includes teachers, parents and prospective employers.
• Select passwords carefully – When creating passwords there are some definite dos and don’ts, these include:

Do

• make it at least eight characters in length
• combine letters, numbers and upper and lower case letters.
• change your password regularly

Don’t

• use pet names, birthdates, family or friends’ names
• share passwords with others, even with friends
• store them on the device

Where do I go for help?