1 Keep her SSN to yourself.
If the little league team asks for your kid's Social Security number, don't feel like you have to give it to them. "Try calling and explaining that you do not wish to share that information and ask what other info you can provide instead," says Ryan Anderson, the outreach program manager at the Center for Identity. "With very few exceptions — like government services, heath care, and insurance — most organizations do not need your child's SSN, but request it because it is convenient for them." If you absolutely have to give up the number, see if there's a way to do it over the phone rather than online.
2 Teach your kids to type links, not click.
Web-surfing children need to know how g00gle.com can be different from google.com. "There are a lot of people who collect misspellings and create clone sites for the purpose of gathering information, which can then help them to commit identity theft," says Adam Levin, founder of IDT911 and author of Swiped. To avoid unsafe sites, stress the importance of typing in URLs (rather than blindly clicking on links) and checking the spelling before logging any personal information.
3 Be wary when posting photos.
Parents often disagree about how much to post about their kids and, at the end of the day, it really is a personal preference. Just beware of the risks: You could potentially become a target for a robbery, your kid's photos could be taken and reused by a stranger, or info you post could even be used to facilitate a kidnapping. So skip that first day of class shot next to the school entry sign. "I was very protective of my son's identity when he was younger," says Tracy Gibb, the blogger behind Less Than Perfect Parents. "I never used his face on my blog or any social media sites because I was nervous some weirdo might take an interest in him."
It's not enough to have a complicated password anymore — especially on websites that ask super simple questions in order to approve a password reset. Identity thieves can easily find out a pet's name or a school's mascot using social media. So when answering these questions, Levin has a trick: Lie. "When a site is looking for an answer to a security question, truth is not important. It's about consistency," he says. For example, if your maiden name is Brown, have your kid say it's Orange.
4 Always turn off geotagging.
By disabling the location services on your cell phone, you'll save battery power and you'll make it harder for thieves to locate or track you. "If your picture is geotagged, that means someone with basic computer skills can click on the properties and get into the code to figure out where that picture was taken," says Levin. Why give away your child's school — or your home address — unnecessarily?
5 Check their credit reports.
"Most children shouldn't even have a credit score," explains Anderson, "given that those scores are only issued by the three major credit bureaus when someone has applied for or received some type of credit." (Think: student loans or credit cards.) With identity theft continuing to grow, the Center recommends that parents check their children's credit history at least once a year to be safe. Then, if something comes up, you can have the credit bureaus freeze your child's credit, which would prevent anyone from opening up more accounts.
6 Break the rules to safeguard passwords.
7 Register their domain name.
And, while you're at it, their email address. You don't have to actually build them a website, but Levin says it's smart to reserve those accounts for a few reasons. For one, they'll have easy-to-remember URLs and emails when they're ready. Plus, these accounts are reserved and can't be used fraudulently. But you might need to wait until the early teenage years: "Most social media networks and email providers don't actually allow you to create a profile for children under 13, unless you lie about their age," says Anderson. "And that account could always be flagged as fraudulent and shut down."
8 Steer clear of strangers.
Sure, your kids know not to talk to strangers in public, but have you made it clear that the same rule applies online? "Unlike the physical world where there are some easily identifiable good strangers — such as law enforcement or firefighters — there is no such thing as a safe stranger online, where someone's identity can easily be faked or concealed," says Anderson. There's no reason for them to accept friend requests from people they don't know.
9 Don't friend them on social media.
Why? It connects and exposes them to adults they don't know — and makes all of their data vulnerable, argues blogger Jessica Gottlieb. "Before you friend a child, any child... ask yourself what it might achieve. If your child is under 13, they aren't supposed to be on Facebook, but that's not because of maturity or Facebook caring about childhood. It's because Facebook buys and sells your data and it's illegal to buy and sell data from children under 13," she writes.
10 Set up separate computers.
"If you can afford it, have your kids use a different device," suggests Levin. "This way, if their device gets contaminated, your tax return and your bank information doesn't go up in smoke or end up in a ransomed file."
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11 Make sure they keep private info private.
"Kids can become weapons of mass destruction in terms of online security," warns Levin. "They can be giving out information that they don't realize is personal, identifying info." Explain that they should never share info about themselves, their friends, their family, their neighborhood, or anything that could be used to identify them. The Center even has a free game called Beat the Thief that will help educate kids on this very topic.
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the comment writers alone and does not reflect or represent the views of Victor Duru
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