We talk a lot about social media best practices on the blog. With every tweet, post, check-in and like, we’re revealing more and more information – many times, unknowing. With school back in session this week, we noticed another social media trend that may be putting your children’s identities at risk: proud parents posting pictures of their children holding chalkboard signs displaying their child’s name, school and grade they are entering.
While parents have the best intentions with these photos, they need to understand the risks of sharing sensitive information about their child. Here are some tips to keep in mind:
- Ensure your social media privacy settings are NOT set to public. Make sure photos, posts and your profile information are limited to close family and friends.
- Avoid sharing your child’s full name and birth date. These details along with a home address can be enough for a cyber criminal to open a fraudulent account in your child’s name.
- Consider an alternative method for sharing your child’s photos, like on a smartphone album or end-to-end encryption platform. Or, share via the old school method: print and mail your photos to family and friends.
- Use an identity protection service that includes child monitoring features. These services can alert you if your personal information (or your child’s) is found potentially compromised on the dark web.
For more security best practices, stay tuned on our Blog and visit our Tips page for more information on how to help keep your identity secure.