Teenage confidential: Teens, technology, and privacy

Matthew Johnson is the director of education at MediaSmarts, Canada’s not-for-profit centre for digital and media literacy. He is the author of many of MediaSmarts’ lessons, parent materials, and interactive resources and a lead on MediaSmarts’ research projects.

Do young people really care about privacy? [6:13]How teens carefully curate their online image and use different platforms to control who sees what [6:46]Awareness by teens of the ways their personal information is valuable to social networks and advertisers [8:49]Helping teens understand and use technical privacy settings to limit data collection and targeted advertising [10:13]How much screen time is too much? [11:20]Encouraging mindful use of digital devices [14:00]Modelling healthy technology habits for teens [15:17]Setting rules in the home for the use of digital devices [16:08]Respect, privacy empathy, and digital ethics [17:32]Consent and moral blind spots around sharing sexts/intimate images [20:41]Practical tips for teens, parents, and teachers on privacy and digital ethics [23:15]The challenge: raising awareness among teens of privacy risks in different contexts and empowering them to take action [26:47]

Resources:

IPC Strategic Priorities 2021-2025Teaching kids about privacy (Info Matters episode with Daniel Solove)Privacy Pursuit! Games and Activities for Kids (IPC activity book for kids)Privacy Pirates: An interactive unit on online privacy (Ages 7-9) (MediaSmarts)Digital media: Promoting healthy screen use in school-aged children and adolescents (Canadian Pediatric Society)Family guidelines for new tech devices (MediaSmarts sample contract)There’s No Excuse (MediaSmarts video lessons about sharing sexts/intimate images)The parent network: Social media and your kids workshop (MediaSmarts)Lesson Plan: Privacy Rights of Children and Teens (grades 9 -12)Personal Data Protection Competency Framework for School Students (includes foundational learning principles – International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners – IPC co-sponsor)

Info Matters is a podcast about people, privacy, and access to information hosted by Patricia Kosseim, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. We dive into conversations with people from all walks of life and hear stories about the access and privacy issues that matter most to them. 

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