Many parents are under the impression that it's just Google or social networking companies that are tracking and collecting data on their kids.
However, it's not just social and gaming apps who are collecting data on your kids. There are many unseen players in the kids' media ecosystem--ranging from edtech companies to connected toys and digital assistants (hello, Alexa) and educational marketing companies, who are harvesting data on children and teens.
And while the new GDPR-K regulations (and the forthcoming CCPA) are a step in the right direction, in the U.S. it's time for our COPPA laws to be extended to protect the privacy of all minors.
In recent years we've seen many high-profile data breaches, some involving children’s personal data, resulting from insufficient protections built into the emerging generation of smart devices and toys.
Dr. Sonia Livingstone, a professor at London School of Economics, has authored a new study, "Children: A Special Case for Privacy" for the International Institute of Communications, that takes a deep dive into kids privacy.
"Children’s voices are particularly absent, being rarely consulted or included in national or international deliberations. -Dr. Sonia Livingstone"
As this study points out, it's likely that the technology industry will get better at protecting the data of all its users, but their needs to be a conversation about the bigger issue of the "datafication" of our lives---especially when it comes to kids and teens---how or if their personal data should be used for commercial benefit.
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