Call for parents to teach their children online privacy like they would road safety

Parents should teach children online privacy as an essential life skill in the same way as stranger danger or road safety, the UK's data watchdog has said. The warning comes after research by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) found three in four parents feared their child could not make safe online privacy choices. The ICO has launched a campaign urging families to have simple conversations with their children about protecting personal information after its study found privacy was one of the least discussed online safety topics. It comes amid mounting concerns about the impact of social media and digital technology on children's wellbeing, safety and development. The campaign, Switched on to privacy, says online privacy should be taught as an essential life skill "as natural as teaching a child to cross the road". In a survey of 1,000 UK parents of children aged four to 11, 35% said they believed their child would "share personal information in exchange for game tokens or rewards". The research found 22% of children had shared personal information such as health details with AI tools, while 24% have shared their real name or address online. Eight and nine-year-olds are mo