When it comes to going digital or using the internet, it isn’t easy to maintain online privacy. It’s the same for Australian parents. With the latest updates and technology moving further into innovations, Australian parents cannot keep up with that are protecting their children from data leaks.
Children living in Australia are being tracked and monitored over the internet, just like adults, and companies, websites, and third parties are storing their data to use it for their own benefits. It’s a scary thought if you think of it this way.
How are they failing to protect them?
With time, children over the internet have increased by a huge amount. They have been using social media applications like YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, and even Instagram freely.
Now, the thing is that social media applications were designed solely for adults. These applications cannot differentiate between a child and an adult and therefore treat them as equals. This results in similar data collection from both. And Australian parents can barely stop this.
What type of data is being collected?
Well, the data collected contains a lot of the personal information of users. This data includes their search habits, what they watch, the device they use for streaming, etc. These stats are then used to build a profile of users to identify them over the internet.
Dylan Collins, the CEO of SuperAwesome, shared his concerns on child data protection and said that an average of over 70 million bits of data is collected from a child by the time he turns 13. This is some shocking stat.
What will be the consequences of this data collection?
According to David Vaille, Chair of the Australian Privacy Foundation, a major consequence of this data collection would be that by the time the children turn into adults and will gradually enter into agreements related to data collection, there would be three to four psychographic identities already running against their data without their consent.
He further stated that tech giants and businesses have turned themselves into commercial surveillance businesses and are growing themselves further into the digital advertising business over the internet. These giants include Google, Facebook, YouTube, and more. These giants have faced multiple penalties due to this issue but are still willing to continue into this.
Australian online privacy regulation policy:
Australia’s privacy policy faces a lot of criticism. Why? Because Australia’s Privacy Act does not differentiate between principles of online security and other areas. Some rights that are actually mentioned in the policy barely get enforced. Similarly, consent over-collecting personal information is nowhere to be found. However, companies and industries can develop their own set of rules and regulations for implementation.
To protect children’s data, the Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA) has developed relevant tips for parents to protect their children from this data storing scenario. It also wishes to introduce guidelines to protect the privacy of children.
What can the Australian government do to protect the children?
The Australian government is trying to analyze methods to protect children of their country over the internet. The Australian e-safety team, in their conference, informed that they are considering a project named Safety by Design after considerations with social apps and businesses. This project would take the online environment into account for both adults and children.
Conclusion:
For now, you should take your children’s safety into your own hands. You can completely mask their online activities by using a VPN. A VPN keeps you unidentified over the internet and does not let anyone store your data. Get a top-notch VPN for Australia if you’re at it.
A VPN will also let your children stream their favorite geo-restricted content without any worries. Just create separate accounts for your child on apps so nothing you watch can be recommended to your kid. If they want to stream YouTube TV in Australia using a VPN, they can. If you’re not into spending too much, then the list of the best free VPNs for Australia is the answer to your question.
Also, stream these popular services in Australia:
