Talking Point, an online show by Channel News Asia, recently tackled the issue of children’s privacy, specifically regarding the sharing of youngsters’ lives on social media by their parent(s). Although a vulnerable demographic, the importance of protecting children’s privacy is not always taken seriously enough, especially by parents eager and proud to share their children’s highlights.
“Talking Point” conducted an interesting but chilling experiment, in which they spent a morning going through one of the interviewed parents’ social media posts about their children. In only three hours, “Talking Point” was able to narrow down the parent’s son’s school to a shortlist of three potential locations, and pinpoint their exact home address. And this all despite the interviewee claiming to make efforts to protect her family’s privacy online.
This is just one of the many examples where children’s data privacy comes into play; the market, social and opinion research industry being another. As a considerable amount of data analytics relies on the collection and processing of data from children, young people, and other vulnerable individuals, it is the responsibility of the industry to ensure that this data receives the appropriate level of protection. As ESOMAR’s current campaign #BeDataSmart reminds us, data collection should be designed to be user-centric, and this could not be more true than when it comes to working with children.
In light of this, ESOMAR and the Global Research Business Network recently released best practice guidelines, laying out the foundational principles of children’s data privacy protection. The guidelines can be found here. A cheat sheet of the guidelines is also available and can be downloaded here.
