SAN JOSE, CA — (Marketwired) — 02/09/16 — Today is Safer Internet Day, and parents still face challenges in helping their kids stay safe while using the Internet. In addition to helping kids learn how to use mobile devices responsibly and stay safe on social media, and manage screen time, parents have to contend with a new challenge posed by the Internet of Things (IoT) — smart toys.
Smart toys are essentially toys that connect to the Internet, and are set to become a large product category for IoT devices. A 2015 study projected total revenues from smart toys to reach 2.8 billion USD before the end of last year.* However, last year–s well-known VTech hack that saw data about 6.4 million children stolen caused a moral panic about the security and privacy risks these toys carry for kids.**
“The thing that parents need to know about smart toys is that they–re new terrain for parents and kids, but also manufacturers,” said Sean Sullivan, F-Secure security advisor. “Smart toys and IoT devices in general are a competitive market, and we–ve already seen numerous examples where security is treated as an afterthought. Companies are more interested in growing their customer base than securing customer data, so we–ll probably continue to see these cracks in smart toy security.”
Whether parents are concerned about IoT devices, mobile phones or other Internet safety issues, the best approach for protecting kids is for parents to become involved in how their kids learn to use devices or online services. Data from a recent F-Secure survey indicates that there–s a lot more space for parents to do this.*** Only 30 percent of survey respondents said they check what their kids are doing online or use parental controls more than once a week. Just 38 percent said they explain to their kids how to use the Internet safely more than once a week.
According to F-Secure researcher, , this is problematic given how quickly technology, and how kids use it, is evolving. “Parents have resources they can use to protect kids on traditional PCs, but mobile devices and the IoT are a different story. They do not recognize children as a user group with distinctive needs, and this leaves parents with poor tools to manage their kids– online safety. So while you have things like age restrictions, they–re so basic that kids can figure out how to get around them before parents know what–s happening.”
Sullivan and Albrecht agree that the best solution is for parents to engage with their kids and help them learn to use technology in healthy, positive ways. There are a few practical ways parents can approach helping their kids learn to use the Internet safely:
– “The world kids are growing up in is new, always changing, and difficult for parents to understand,” said Albrecht. “Parents need to accept this rather than fight it. Learning should work both ways and be done together — parents can learn about issues facing the kids, and kids can learn things parents understand, like the dangers of interacting with strangers.”
– Parents should understand enough about the products and services kids are using to decide whether they are good or bad. “Educational apps typically strike a good balance between asking for information to help them improve their service, and respecting privacy,” said Sullivan. “They–ll ask for a year of birth to tailor content to the correct age group, but they won–t ask for the exact birthdate, or the kids– full name. If you–re being asked to disclose exact birthdates, full names, or other things about your kid you–d rather keep private, move on to a better product.”
– Kids need some degree of privacy, especially as they grow older. “I think it–s ok for parents to use technical solutions to keep an eye on what kids are doing online, but parents should be open about this and prepared to ease off as kids age,” said Albrecht. “Chances are kids will figure out these technical controls anyway, so trying to hide it is likely to backfire and cause kids to see their parents as big brother type figures.”
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***Source: The F-Secure Consumer Values Study 2015 consisted of an online survey of 8,800 age, gender and income-representative respondents from 11 countries, 800 respondents per country: US, UK, France, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Italy, Sweden, and India. The study was designed together with Informed Intuitions. Data was collected by Toluna Analytics in July 2015.
F-Secure has been defending tens of millions of people around the globe from digital threats for over 25 years. Our award-winning products protect people and companies against everything from crimeware to corporate cyberattacks, and are available from over 6000 resellers and 200 operators in more than 40 countries. We–re on a mission to help people connect safely with the world around them, so join the movement and switch on freedom!
Founded in 1988, F-Secure is listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd.
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