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Protection against child identity theft, the utmost priority for parents
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Posted On :
Jan-30-2012
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Article Word Count :
521
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Admit it—the whole world now revolves around the conveniences that the Internet has to offer. And not just businesses and adults who enjoy going online.
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Admit it—the whole world now revolves around the conveniences that the Internet has to offer. And not just businesses and adults who enjoy going online. These days, kids as young as five years old are going online; whether it’s to play games or watch their favorite cartoon characters or keep in touch with family members who work overseas.
The very thing that you have to be careful with however, inasmuch as parents would like to let kids learn and be very hands on with technology, is that there exists very real and very dangerous threats online for children. Anything done on the Internet makes kids susceptible to stalkers and hackers who might be keeping close tabs on your child’s online activities with the intent to use their personas for identity theft—the repercussions of which are particularly serious.
A hacker can easily use your child’s name for dodgy financial transactions that will probably go unnoticed while he or she is underage. And not until years after the crime has been committed, when they are of legal age to apply for a credit card for example or take out an educational loan, will they know that they have been victims to this crime. Every year, thousands of kids become victim of child identity theft and as such, have faced a lot of financial difficulties in clearing their financial reputation as adults. Common sense therefore dictates that parents must always find ways to be more vigilant of their kids’ activities online and keep them protected from identity theft.
In 1998, the children’s online privacy protection act has mandated a lot of websites to include privacy policies that detail how they collect and use personal information. With this came the need for guardians or parents to give consent that will protect children below the age of 13, who are most susceptible to identity theft.
As a parent, check out some of the guidelines that you must keep in mind to ensure that your kids enjoy a safe and secure online experience.
1. Always keep a strong eye on the Internet activities of your children and ask them if they encounter any trouble when they go online.
2. If any business or organization or website is demanding for the social security number of your child you must make sure about its authenticity before giving out details
3. You can strictly refuse to give the birth certificate or social security number of your child if any suspected authority is demanding for the same.
4. Credit monitoring is highly important for you as well as for your child. There are free monitoring methods available and you would be wise to make use of it to ensure that your child’s credit report is accurate and so you can double check for any inconsistencies.
5. Never allow your children to reveal any personal or confidential information in public or online, especially on the social networking sites without your permission.
6. Use social networking monitoring tools for parents like safetyweb.com—these can help teach children what information should be kept private.
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Article Source :
http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Protection against child identity theft, the utmost priority for parents_140919.aspx
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Author Resource :
Use MyID to ensure identity theft protection for your child. Get privacy alerts when your child’s privacy or identity is at risk, monitor identity theft, manage their reputation online and make them safe online. Enroll now at www.myid.com.
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Keywords :
Identity theft protection, identity theft, privacy protection, protect privacy online, online privacy protection, monitor ide,
Category :
Internet Business
:
Security
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