Personal data best practices

Les informations mises en ligne sont (trop) faciles à diffuser.

On ne sait pas toujours qui se trouve derrière un écran.

Il faut donc faire attention et partager ses photos, vidéos ou infos personnelles seulement avec des personnes que l’on connait et de confiance.

Les parents aussi doivent être vigilants avec les photos qu'ils partagent de leurs enfants sur Internet.

Avant de publier une photo ou une information en ligne, je me pose 2 questions :

1. “Est-ce que ça me dérangerait si tout le monde voyait cette information ou photo, comme un professeur ou un futur patron ?”
2. “Est-ce que les personnes qui sont sur la photo sont d'accord pour que je la publie en ligne ?”

1/3 of teenagers have already shared their password, often with their friends.

A password is personal and confidential. Revealing it is the best way to have your identity taken from you and your personal data stolen.

For a strong password that’s easy to remember, you can choose the first letters of each word from the chorus of a song, a line of poetry or a proverb.

A digital pound is a real pound.

Just because I can’t hold it in my hand doesn’t mean it’s not real!

As in real life, I’m careful with money and don’t spend it without permission.

Talk to your children about money and the difference between real and virtual money.

At their age, they don’t yet know how to earn, save and spend money. So it can be difficult for them to understand why it’s not a good idea to spend money online.

Many games have a free-to-play model and offer in-game purchases to obtain items or progress faster.

It can be quite difficult to resist this temptation. Purchasing is often made easy, with no need for a credit card.

Using a currency (tokens, coins, diamonds, etc.), text messages or premium rate calls to obtain virtual goods in games accumulates real-world costs.

It’s important to inform children about the different ways in which they can shop, so that they know that some things involve real money.

You can block purchases using parental controls or in some game options. You can set up phones, consoles or games platforms to require a code to prevent children from making purchases on their own.

What’s more, game descriptions, whether for smartphones or consoles, also mention whether there are in-app purchases.

Loot boxes meanwhile are a way to encourage spending. These mystery bundles contain randomised content that you can only discover by opening them (items, characters or features). Players are encouraged to buy them to get the gift they were looking for.

It’s important to keep your children well informed about game mechanics that encourage purchases. But don’t forget that these goodies can also make great gift ideas for children … and adults too!

Clickable links sent by text message, e-mail or on social networks may contain scams or viruses. They can also be used to retrieve the accounts and personal data of those who open them.

It’s important not to click or share without thinking.

To protect yourself, you need to be mindful of the person sending the link, question its content and then block and report the sender so you don’t get caught out.

Fortunately, all social networks offer the ability to easily block and report an account.

This is the best way to protect yourself from offensive and illegal content.

On the internet, search engines operate using keywords, and some websites pay to appear at the top of search results.

Knowing how to choose and combine keywords effectively is essential for finding the right information and avoiding unwanted content.

Using advanced search engines is a good way of organising and structuring your search: exclude words, include an expression, specify a time period, etc.

Search engines are not designed to separate adult content from children’s content. But there are filters to limit exposure to offensive content.

In the search settings, you can activate a filter that limits access to violent and adult content.

There are also dedicated search engines for children that filter out adult content, such as Qwant junior or Kiddle (the Google for kids). Children’s portals also provide access to children’s sites, sorted by topic, such as Hellokids or Takatrouver.

Parental controls are useful tools for protecting children from age-inappropriate content.

They can also be used to define access to content by profile (children, teenagers).

All internet service providers, mobile operators, and platforms (including smartphones and gaming consoles) offer parental control solutions designed for each device.

Activating parental controls can, for example, block access to games by age group, control purchases, prevent online chatting or limit play time.

You can find a page dedicated to setting parental controls on the main games platforms on the Pédagojeux website – https://www.pedagojeux.fr/