Over 80% of children use a tablet regularly by the age of eight. They utilize these gadgets’ apps to watch TV shows, communicate with friends, play games, and learn about the world. But did you realize that most of the applications capture a lot of information about your children?
Most likely not. After all, parents are preoccupied with a variety of issues. So let’s look at how (and why) companies get their hands on your child’s information.
Apps That Wants The Most Information
The ToyZone recently investigated the app permissions (you know, the tiny print you probably don’t read but tick the box to accept) for several popular children’s applications.
They discovered a wide range of data collection amounts and types in these apps, which is important to control how much of your child’s data is gathered by monitoring or limiting which apps they use.
Greenlight Kids, a money management software, is at the top of the list. They track 10.1 segments of data on average. Regrettably, every child’s favorite app type comes in second.
It’s all part of the game. 9.3 popular gaming apps track parts. This is particularly concerning given how much time our children and teenagers spend on gaming apps. Gaming addiction has just been classified as a significant mental health issue by the World Health Organization (WHO).
“A pattern of gaming defined by poor control over gaming, increased priority given to gaming over other activities notwithstanding the presence of negative effects,” according to the WHO. According to a WHO assessment, the most severely affected gamers might spend up to 18 hours per day playing online games.
Another significant source of concern for medical professionals is social media addiction among young people. One of the key reasons social media is a goldmine for greedy data gatherers is its presence in children’s lives.
TheToyZone’s ranking of the most data-gathering apps ranks social media apps second. They collect an average of 6.5 data segments. Following that are video streaming apps (6.3 parts), books & reading apps, and so forth (5.2 segments).
The least amount of data is collected by coding, nature and animals, and scientific apps. Between 2.4 and 3.6 segments are present. Furthermore, most of the segments are restricted to data on usage and customer experience.
Keep Your Kids’ Data Safe
Seeing how much data popular applications collect about our children can be eye-opening, and most of us have never given it any thought. However, you can safeguard your children from data-hungry apps by taking a few simple actions.
- Download applications from trustworthy stores (such as the Google Play store) with a kids protection policy.
- Install and use parental controls, which are especially useful for youngsters using a tablet or phone.
- After installing apps and new browsers and websites, change the privacy settings.
- Read articles like this one and studies on which applications are the most intrusive to stay informed.
It’s also a good idea to have an open conversation with your children about how important their data is to realize they need to safeguard it.
