If you give a kid a cookie

Should you give a child a cookie? That’s the question privacy experts have been asking ever since an expose in the Wall Street Journal revealed that many popular websites for children surreptitiously download dozens of cookies and other tiny programs that track what kids are doing online.

Cookies have always been controversial. The companies that use them insist they are benign, bits of software that allow them to customize visits to their websites. That may have been true years ago when cookies were used primarily to remember passwords or the contents of a shopping cart.

Today, cookies are both more prevalent and more powerful, allowing marketers to target ads based on what a person does online. For adults, this might be inconsequential or even helpful. If you’re researching a new car, you may be OK about seeing ads for comparable models. Yet, even adults often feel uneasy about customized advertising related to personal issues, such as weight loss or fertility.

Targeting kids raises even more concerns because their defenses against marketing aren’t fully formed. The current law protects children under 13, who are supposed to get adult permission before registering with any website. Now, Common Sense Media has asked that legal protection from tracking software be extended to anyone under 18. A full explanation of its campaign is available at www.commonsensemedia.org/privacy, but here are the highlights: Simplify privacy policies so it’s easy to understand what’s being collected and how it will be used. Instead of the prevailing opt-out policies, sites aimed at minors should adopt opt-in policies so teens can make deliberate decisions about sharing information.

Those ideas do sound like common sense. Unfortunately, marketers are unlikely to abandon such lucrative practices without a fight, so parents must help children think through and manage their privacy. Online privacy is easier to understand if parents differentiate between personally identifying information and personally embarrassing information, suggests Danah Boyd, a researcher at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. To get a grip on cookies and other tracking software, parents may also want to add personal behavior information to that list. Here are some issues that need to be considered:

Personally identifiable information

This is the information that allows someone else to identify — and locate — your child. In addition to name, address and phone number, it may include the name of your child’s school or travel team. Children who aren’t mature enough for social media should have a simple rule about this information: Don’t give it out online without permission. The law requires websites serving kids under 13 to get parental permission before a child registers. Teach your children to take the law seriously. In particular, they should get approval to register on a website, participate in a contest or download any kind of free program.

Personally embarrassing information

Once a child joins a social network, sharing some identifiable information is inevitable, though teens should use every available privacy setting on sites like Facebook. At this age, discussions should focus on information that could be embarrassing, the kind of information that will make your child — or you — cringe if it falls into the wrong hands. Young people have actually become quite savvy about what should and shouldn’t be shared in social networks, though comfort levels vary with each teen. At the same time, parents have a role, especially with newbies. Talk often about how information that’s shared online can take on a life of its own because other people can replicate, distribute, and search for it. Google your child so she can see what’s leaking through despite her defenses.

Personal behavior information

Doing anything online leaves clues about personal interests. Marketers are eager to have this information, particularly about young people who haven’t yet made firm commitments to products. In fact, the opportunity to collect information about prospective customers is part of what makes so much of the web free. Instead of paying for what a website offers with money, people pay by offering up bits of information about themselves.

If a young person understands this, she can make informed decisions about when to share information. For example, a teen searching for college information may want to see ads from similar schools. A child who likes a particular kind of movie, book, music or video game may be eager to know about new releases. Teach your child to check for a privacy policy before using a new website. Many include “advertising preferences” that allow visitors to opt out of all marketing. Unless there’s a compelling reason, encourage your child to use the most conservative settings, if only to minimize the number of cookie crumbs clogging your computer.

Obviously, the conversation about cookies is part of a larger discussion about what kind of information should be kept private. Young people who have grown up with social media may feel comfortable sharing more about their lives than their elders do, but that doesn’t mean they want everyone to know everything. If, as Boyd observes, privacy means having control over who knows what, parents will want to be sure their children have access to the very best privacy tools so they can decide for themselves whether they really want that cookie.

Carolyn Jabs, MA, has been writing about families and the Internet for over 15 years. She is the mother of three computer-savvy kids. Other Growing Up Online columns appear on her website www.growing-up-online.com. Copyright, 2010, Carolyn Jabs. All rights reserved.

Relevant Directory Listings

See More

Mosholu Day Camp

<p dir="ltr">For over 80 years, Mosholu Day Camp has been providing affordable, quality camping to children from all over the Bronx, Manhattan, Rockland & Westchester. Our picturesque facility sits on beautiful Lake Cohasset in Harriman State Park. It offers children a place to develop, experience, and enjoy the nature around them, while taking part in unforgettable outdoor summer activities. </p> <p dir="ltr">Mosholu offers campers more, while you pay less. As a camp that focuses on traditional activities our goal is to give children unforgettable experiences and lifelong friendships. The camp has expert staff and top-notch facilities. Mosholu is a safe and nurturing environment filled with exciting activities and adventures for all ages. Director, Mike Halpern brings over 40 years of camping, teaching and childcare experiences and along with an amazing leadership team, built a program that allows campers to learn and thrive.</p> <p dir="ltr">The camp provides a nurturing environment where campers have an opportunity to enjoy activities (like music, arts, sports, and special programs), while a special focus is placed on swimming, where campers begin to develop and improve water familiarity and swimming skills take part in row boats, kayaks and an amazing waterpark. The camp has an amazing challenge and ropes course area with a number of challenges including a rock wall, zip line, tree climbing and rope swing. Campers gain independence while supervised by counselors who understand the needs of emerging tween campers.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mosholu is a “funtastic” place where campers make new friends, are creative, focus on sports and arts, and have a positive experience. Counselors are college-aged and older, and are directly supervised by adult professional child care workers who are in tune to the campers' needs. There are tons of inter-camp games and parties, as well as cookouts and a water balloon sling shot area where campers stay cool and laugh. </p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Mosholu Day Camp offers bus service (included in the price) from all over Westchester, Upper Manhattan, The Bronx and Rockland. It is an amazing camp experience at an amazing price!  It is a place where memories are made that last a lifetime!<span id="docs-internal-guid-be08b0e8-7fff-e32f-eaed-a8310d12ec1f"></span></p>

Camp Lee Mar

<p><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" data-sheets-value="{" data-sheets-userformat="{">A private 7 week residential summer program offering a unique curriculum incorporating a strong Academic and Speech program with traditional camp activities. Our campers flourish at Lee Mar due to the structured environment we provide which allows our campers to feel comfortable and secure. Careful study is made of parent input, school (IEPs), camper interview, etc., so that the interests and needs of each child can best be determined for suitable grouping prior to the camper arriving. At Lee Mar the children find comfort and friendship with children of similar age and functioning level. From this foundation we encourage our campers to embrace and learn new skills and have new experiences which they can build upon on their return home. We also focus on building friendships which last throughout the year, as well as learning how to cope with the dynamics of group situations. Development of the whole child is our goal. We work hard at improving the daily living, social, and life skills of our campers, while giving them the happiest summer of their lives!</span></p>

KTBYTE

<div><strong>Computer Science Coding Classes for Children </strong></div> <div> </div> <p>Ages 8 - 18</p> <p>Enroll today for a FREE Trial and our Summer and School Year Course Offerings!</p> <p>Differentiated and Individualized Learning with our Caring and Knowledgeable Staff!</p> <p>Offer YOUR child the competitive advantage of learning a new language and also using STEM to learn and have fun! </p> <p> </p> <div> <div id="m_3428097911001171987ktbyte-vision"> <p><strong>The KTBYTE vision</strong></p> <p>At KTBYTE, our vision is to make a high-quality Computer Science (CS) education accessible to students globally while also making CS exciting and engaging for them!</p> </div> <div id="m_3428097911001171987diffsimilar"> <p><strong>The KTBYTE Difference</strong></p> <p>KTBYTE offers a progressive Computer Science curriculum for students ages 8-18 years old. Classes range from introductory JavaBlocks™ programming to college-level courses. KTBYTE offers classes that stand out from the standard Core Curriculum for high-school students, with unique programs such as USACO prep courses, Generative Art and Design courses, and even Machine Learning courses. Our instructors are dedicated, nurturing and passionate about what they do and committed to ensuring that KTBYTE students are exposed to an unparalleled, dynamic, educational and engaging CS learning experience! Register today for a <a href="https://www.ktbyte.com/freetrial" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ktbyte.com/freetrial&source=gmail&ust=1622725037124000&usg=AFQjCNED2R673ZzKakJOtaGSycFpwW73uw">Free Trial</a> and experience the KTBYTE Difference!</p> </div> <div id="m_3428097911001171987aluminiaccomp"> <p><strong>KTBYTE Alumni Accomplishments</strong></p> <p>KTBYTE alums consistently outperform their peers in terms of their academic accomplishments. KTBYTE students ace their AP CS courses and exams and are also incredibly successful through the competitive college admissions process. KTBYTE students have been accepted to numerous Ivy League and competitive colleges and universities including but not limited to Brown, Carnegie Mellon, UChicago, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, MIT, UPenn, Princeton, Tufts, Yale, and many more!</p> </div> <div id="m_3428097911001171987shorttermbenef"> <p><strong>What Makes the KTBYTE Course Experience Unique?</strong></p> <p>At KTBYTE, all of our instructors are highly qualified and experienced, educational professionals who differentiate learning and offer KTBYTE students a multitude of opportunities for individualized instruction by spending hours each week preparing for each specialty class that they teach in order to offer a dynamic, engaging and fun educational course interaction for every KTBYTE student. Through our Virtual Machines, our instructors are able to see exactly what is on your child’s screen throughout every class, and as such are easily able to assist your child through any obstacle that may arise. At KTBYTE, our nurturing, knowledgeable and caring teaching staff anticipate and identify when a student may be struggling with a problem even before the student decides to ask a question about it.</p> </div> <div id="m_3428097911001171987whoareinstructors"> <p><strong>What Sets the KTBYTE Teaching Team Apart?</strong></p> <p>KTBYTE instructors are college and post-college working professionals with extensive backgrounds in computer science. At the highest level, our artificial intelligence classes are taught by a graduate sutdent in AI. Each of our teaching professionals is passionate about igniting a love for learning in your child by presenting Computer Science concepts in practical ways which offer the student the opportunity to see Computer Science at work in recognizable applications from daily life. Every class, regardless of level will be individualized and differentiated to ensure your child’s success!</p> </div> </div>