Privacy and Safety Settings
Children often use several platforms, including social media, messaging apps, gaming platforms and school or club communication tools. Each service has its own privacy and safety settings that can help you manage who can see your child’s information, what your child can see, who can contact them, and what personal data apps collect or share. These controls play an important safeguarding role by limiting how much personal information children share online. They can help prevent unwanted contact, reduce location sharing, stop strangers viewing photos and protect your child’s long term digital footprint.
As a parent or carer, you can help your child build the confidence and skills they need to make safe and informed decisions about their privacy online. This guide will help you use privacy and safety settings to keep your child safer online, and it signposts to further help and resources.
What to think about
What is being shared about your child
Sharenting
Parents and carers often share photos, updates or videos online to celebrate milestones or stay connected with family and friends. However, even well meant posts can unintentionally reveal personal details, create a digital footprint a child cannot control, or expose information that could be misused now or in future.
Your child’s age and stage
Top tips
Managing privacy across different platforms
Apps and platforms update often, which can change privacy controls without notice. Reviewing settings regularly with your child helps ensure they still offer the right level of protection.
Internet Matters have step by step guides to help you set up parental controls, adjust privacy settings and limit what others can see across the devices, apps and platforms your child uses – including Apple, Google/Android, PlayStation, Xbox, Roblox, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube and many more.
Limit location sharing
Location features can reveal where your child lives, studies or spends time. Turning off or limiting location permissions reduces this risk and helps protect their movements and routines.
If you would like help adjusting location settings or reviewing which apps have access to your child’s location, visit Internet Matters for managing these settings across devices and apps.
Manage tagging and images
Talking to your child
Encourage safe posting habits
Helping children pause before they post is an important part of developing digital resilience. Encourage them to think about whether a post reveals private information, how it might be interpreted and how they would feel if the same thing were shared about them.
The Data Protection Commission in Ireland’s Pause Before You Post campaign guidance explains how information shared about children can be copied, gathered or misused, and encourages adults to think carefully before posting.
Show them how to report and block
Reporting and blocking tools are essential features on most platforms. Knowing how to use them helps children take action if something feels wrong and can prevent unwanted contact from continuing.
The Report Harmful Content service provides step by step guidance on how to report issues on popular social networks and video platforms.
