Protecting Kids Online: Oversharing, Cybersecurity and A.I. Risks

With school in session for most students, now is the perfect time to talk about protecting kids online. From oversharing to new cybersecurity and A.I. risks, parents and students face challenges that didn’t exist just a few years ago. We’ve written before about first day of school photos and oversharing on social media. This article builds on those ideas with new risks families should know about.

This article will look at cybersecurity and online privacy issues parents and students face today. With Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) now mainstream, it’s important to understand how this impacts everyone.

Let’s start with oversharing

What Are the Privacy and Cybersecurity Risks of Oversharing?

Oversharing is one of the biggest challenges when it comes to protecting kids online.

Whether it’s social media platforms, videos, blogs, or websites, sharing too much information gives someone with ill intent opportunities to cause harm.

What may seem like harmless details can quickly add up to create a sensitive profile about someone. Names, physical locations, contact info, and likes/dislikes can all be used to identify a person. This data also makes it easier to craft phishing attempts and scams over email, text, phone calls, or social media DMs. In more serious cases, it can be used for SIM swap attacks and identity theft (including child identity theft).

Oversharing can also fuel cyberbullying and targeted harassment campaigns.

Adding images or videos increases the risks further. Photos often contain hidden details like landmarks, school logos, or uniforms that make it easier for someone to identify and locate a person.

Reputation and Digital Footprint Risks of Oversharing on Social Media

Oversharing doesn’t just carry cybersecurity risks, it can also affect your reputation.

Part of staying safe online is understanding how your digital footprint can affect college admissions and job opportunities.

Colleges and employers are increasingly turning to social media in order to learn about potential candidates. That means you could be turned down from a college or miss out on a job because of how your social media presence is perceived.

Combined, the privacy, security, and digital footprint risks of oversharing create setbacks in ways many don’t anticipate.

Deepfakes, A.I. Threats, and Online Privacy Risks for Students

Adding A.I. into the mix is like pouring gasoline onto the fire. Deepfakes and other A.I. scams are the newest frontier in protecting kids online, making awareness and preparation more important than ever.

Recently, the Attorney General of Iowa issued a warning to students about the dangers of deepfakes as they return to school.

A deepfake is A.I.-generated audio, video, or images of a person that look or sound real.

Common risks include:

• Non-consensual explicit images of students
• Harassment and cyberbullying using manipulated content
• Phishing attempts made more convincing with A.I.-cloned voices

For victims, these incidents are not only harmful but often traumatizing.

Cybersecurity Tips for Parents

For parents, protecting kids online starts with privacy settings and having honest conversations about digital risks.

You are the curator of your kid’s digital life. Since you don’t know who may be watching your social media, or with what their intent is, it’s best to lock down your accounts and make them private. At the very least, use post-level privacy settings to limit your audience when sharing updates about your child.

healthychildren.org gives some questions to ask yourself when posting information about your children which hopefully will guide you toward making the right decision to share or not:

• Why are you sharing it?
• Would you want someone to share it about you?
• Could your child be embarrassed by it, now or in the future?
• Is there anyone in the universe who shouldn’t see this about your child, now or at any point in the future?
• Is this something you want to be part of your child’s digital footprint?

Other steps for parents:

• Honor your child’s request to delete content.
• Have age-appropriate talks about online privacy and safety.
• Be prepared to advocate if your child faces harassment, sextortion scams, or deepfake attacks.

Online Safety Tips for Students

If you’re a student on social media, here’s how you can take steps to protect yourself online.:

• Get familiar with account and post privacy/security settings. Turn on those that offer you the most protection.
• Remember: not everyone you add to your social network is your friend. Be discerning when adding someone new.
• Know how to report harmful posts.
• Learn how to spot scams, phishing attempts, and A.I. generated content.
• Avoid oversharing personal details.
• Review your digital footprint before applying for college or jobs.

What to Do if You’re Targeted by Deepfakes or Scams

Obviously, being careful online is important, but the best defense is preparation. Let’s start with some basics for staying safe online.

• Use strong, unique passwords and good password hygiene.
• Enable multi-factor authentication.
• Keep devices and applications updated.
• Install anti-malware protection.
• Knowing how to spot scams and phishing attempts.
• Turn on privacy settings across your platforms.

But what if you’re careful and something still happens? If you’re targeted by scams, harassment, or deepfake content, here are steps to take:

• First, it’s not your fault. Process what’s happening and know that this situation isn’t your doing.
• Document evidence of where the harmful content exists.
• Issue takedown notices to platforms where the harmful content is on.
• Submit requests to search engines like Google and Bing to remove the content from searches.
• Explore legal options if possible.
• Remove/suppress your data from people search sites.

We had a little help from this article from Mashable about dealing with non-consensual nude or sexually explicit images. It contains more resources and insight for legal help.

For A.I. powered phishing or scam attempts, create a family passphrase. If you receive a suspicious call that sounds like a loved one, ask for the passphrase. If they don’t know it, that’s a red flag. Block the number or report the email as phishing.

If necessary, file reports with the FBI, FTC, NCMEC, or your local police department.

The key takeaway: be prepared and have a plan in place for different scenarios.

How We Help Families with Cybersecurity and Privacy

Our services are designed to help families with protecting kids online, from breach monitoring to digital footprint reviews.

Digital Footprint Reviews

We identify privacy, cybersecurity, and reputation risks by reviewing your social media and public online presence. Our review also includes Data Breach Reporting. If your information is exposed in known breaches or misused online, we’ll attempt removals where possible and guide you through next steps when limits exist.

Essential Breach Report (Lite Edition)

The Lite Edition is designed as our entry point offering for our Data Breach Reporting Service.

This version searches up to 2 personal email addresses for known data breaches and other related findings tied to your email.

Cybersecurity Education

From teaching kids how to recognize online risks to helping parents manage social media and privacy, we provide customized education to build lasting cybersecurity habits. Some topics include phishing and scam detection, digital literacy, and managing social media footprints.

Identify Theft Protection and Restoration

We offer individual and family plans for protecting and monitoring your most sensitive information.

Use the form below to schedule a free consultation to learn how we help protect you and your family.