Ways to Teach Your Kids to Protect Their Privacy Online

Kids make a lot of visits to different websites. And if they aren't careful, they may stumble on sites that ask them about their personal information which can be picked up by other people for malicious intent. Other than that, some sites even deliberately ask for your kids' personal information in the forms of survey and non-existing contests that may lead them to your family's information. All these can put your kids and your family in great danger. Thus, helping your kids protect your privacy online is the best way to avoid the possible online threats.

1. Teach your kids that talking to people online is more dangerous than to talking to strangers on the street. Their names, address, school information, telephone number, email address, password, and bank information should be kept from strangers at all times.

2. Online strangers exist in chat rooms. But chat rooms are very in to kids and it is unlikely that they will follow when you tell them not to enter chat rooms. So the best way to make sure that they are safe when inside chat rooms, tell them not to entertain private chat, stay on public and moderated rooms, and ignore strangers that ask them about their personal information.

3. Teach them not to fill out forms from unsecured site. Tell them to always look for privacy policy statements before they give personal information to a site. This will ensure that the information they will give is secure. Security status can also be seen at the bottom right portion of the browser in the form of a padlock.

4. Tell your kids the risk of giving out personal information on instant messaging. Since instant messaging aren't encrypted programs, anyone using the right software can pick up their conversation and use your kids' personal details against them.

5. If they have personal profiles on the net, make sure they are private and no other people can see it aside from the people they know.

6. Tell them to always use alias and nickname when using the internet. Also teach them to create alternative email so that whenever they are going to fill out online forms, their primary email is still safe. Alternative email address is also helpful if they are going to use computers outside your home.

7. Instruct them to use an alias when posting blogs online.

5 Tools to Keep Your Child Safe While Using the Net

It is essential to maintain the safety of your kids anywhere they go and whatever they do. And with the internet becoming a whole new venue for kids to interact with other people, engage in activities, and encounter unlimited information, threats have never been more rampant.

Therefore, keeping your kids safe while using the internet is as important as keeping them safe outside your home. Here are the effective tools that make sure you realize this:

1. Child-friendly online browsers.

Kids love the internet because of the new experience it gives. But this experience should be safe too. So to make sure that you satisfy both the new experience and safety, you have to have a child-friendly web browser. This ensures that your kids stay on educational, fun, and relevant websites suited for their age. This prevents them from entering non-approved sites that may have unsuitable contents.

2. Search engines.

Most search engines have customizable search options or advance search options where the user can change the security settings that influence the search results. This feature blocks most of the adult sites. The good thing about filtering search engines is that it is free. However, this feature can easily be disabled by your kids. They can also use another search engines to look for their desired sites or just type the URL of the site they want to visit.

3. Internet filtering software

Many internet filtering softwares can block bad websites and webpages with undesirable contents. Take note that not all filtering softwares are the same. There are those that only block pre-determined words or websites that are included in the system database of the software manufacturer. Other internet filtering software can only allow sites that are approved by parents. The bottom line is, if you are going to select an internet filtering software, choose one that fits your needs.

4. Monitoring software

Monitoring software focuses on reporting to you the activities of your kids through email. The software will provide you the details about your kids' visited websites, sent and received email, online conversation, opened and closed applications, and opened and printed files.

5. Internet filtering from ISP

ISPs with internet filtering system are becoming more and more convenient for parents since they don't need regular updates. The IPS will automatically update the system plus it further enhances the security of your kids from bad sites.

Internet Shopping Safety: Guidelines for Kids on Picking the Right Online Store

E-commerce has been growing around the world in recent years and traditional shopping has been replaced by a more convenient online marketplace. But with the growth of the number of shops shifting from malls to websites, there has also been a significant growth of non-existent online shops that only aim to victimize unsuspecting people. And since the targets are mostly kids, you should know how to avoid this scam by picking the right online stores.

1. Shop with your parents � There is no better way to shop online safely than by doing it with your parents. If you want to buy something online, ask them to spend time with you. They surely can tell you the good sites from the bad.

2. Go to tried and tested auctions sites � eBay, Yahoo Auctions, Bidz.com, uBid, MSN Auctions, and Amazon.com are some of the tried and tested auction sites. Just make sure that you bid from a reputable seller by reading feedbacks left by their previous buyers.

3. Choose reputable companies � Every clothing company, electronic company, toys manufacturer, and everything you see on the mall have at least one online store. So if you don't to go to the mall, then shopping at their online stores is generally safe. They also have a good after-sales service.

4. Avoid too good to be true advertisements � If you find an online store selling an item with a price that is, as we say, too good to be true, then better doubt. This is one of the ways where kids like you are lured to drain your cash to them. They are probably a scam.

5. Avoid shopping from sites you get from spam. Spam mails are often the source of "too good to be true" item and scams. So better avoid them and settle for reputable sites.

6. Don't judge websites by design � Remember the saying, "Don't judge the book by its cover"? Then it is similar to this. If you want to know if the website store is real or not, verify the site by looking for a business address and contact number. You may also want to verify the existence of the site by dialing up the number.

Shopping online is risky but keeping these guidelines will make sure that every time you purchase an item online, you are sure to get it at your doorstep.

Internet Filtering Software: Why Use One?

Internet threats to kids come in different forms and sizes; and they are everywhere on the web too. So keeping your kids protected may be impossible if your computer itself isn't armed with the right tools to block these threats. Your question then is, "How am I going to protect my kids from these internet threats?"

The most logical and probably the best answer is by using internet filtering software. (Names such as web filtering tools, content-control software, filtering software, web filtering software, web blocking software, and blocking software are also used to describe the same thing.) Internet filtering software lets you protect your kids from accessing undesirable web sites. It is designed to let you take control on what contents are permitted and not permitted to enter to your computer.

Aside from the site, the internet filtering software allows you to filter unwanted emails and annoying popups.

Since kids may develop curiosity on topics such as sex and violence, installing an internet filtering software to your pc will make sure that they are incapable of accessing pornographic sites and sites unsuitable for their age.

Furthermore, an open access to the web may prove to be very dangerous for your kids as they may open sites that will lead them to disclose personal identification that can be used by online predators against them, and maybe against your family. An open access to the web will also put your computer at risk since many sites that are probably visited by your kids may contain spyware, adware, and viruses.

The internet filtering software is fully customizable nonetheless. You can add or remove websites whenever you want. Or, you can set passwords to some websites you don't want your kids to access.

Popular internet filtering softwares are ContentProtect, CYBERsitter, NetNanny, Cyber Patrol, FilterPak, Cyber Sentinel, Child Safe, Cyber Snoop, Norton Parental Controls, and McAfee Parental Controls. Prices range between $17 and $70.

One type of internet filtering software is provided by an ISP which parents can subscribe to eliminate up to the highest possible risk level. There is also a type of internet filtering software that is provided by the same server that gives the connection.

Pornography, sex, violent and graphic images, nudity, and gore; you surely don't want your kids to access sites containing these things. So better get an internet filtering software and all these will remain off your computer. Most of all it's inexpensive and effective.