The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has launched a new campaign to support parents and carers to have simple conversations with children about online privacy. The Switched on to privacy campaign, is designed for parents and carers of children aged 4 to 11 and provides clear, practical guidance to help families understand how personal information is shared online and how to make safer choices.
At the centre of the campaign is an online resource hub, which brings together practical advice, short videos and conversation prompts to support discussions about online privacy at home. The guidance is structured around three steps identified by the ICO:
- Chat regularly with your child about online privacy
- Choose carefully what personal information to share
- Check privacy settings on new devices and apps
The campaign reflects ICO research showing that while many parents are concerned about how their children share personal information online, fewer have discussed this with their child. Parents and carers are encouraged to build privacy awareness into everyday situations and explore online spaces alongside their children as part of regular family routines.
To support organisations in sharing the campaign, the ICO has also produced a partner communications toolkit. This includes ready to use materials such as newsletter copy, social media posts, short messages and briefing content, enabling education settings, charities and community groups to signpost families to the campaign using their existing channels.
If you have questions, need support, or want to talk about how to use these resources in your setting, please email [email protected]