Privacy is the ability to keep certain things to yourself when you are online, for them not to be seen by or shared with others.
Personal data is information about you collected by the apps and websites you visit (like the things you like and open).
Young people love going online and a big part of this is being able to see what others are doing and to share what they and their families are up to. The devices they use help them to connect with others but it also means young people need to think about what they are sharing online and who they share this with.
Online privacy
In its purest form privacy is about being able to protect parts of your life from others. On the internet things tend to be very different. A young child deciding on their username and avatar on a game will do so knowing that other players will see this. A teenager might want lots of their friends to be able to see a photo of them having a great time. For some young people, sharing our lives with others is just part of being online and many will be very used to seeing celebrities doing this.
Personal data
Our personal data includes our name, age and where we live. Some of these bits of information will be needed when young people first use an app or when they get a new device and they can be unsure of who will see this. Our personal data also includes what we do when we are online too, like the websites we visit, the places we visit and the things we buy. These are all examples of personal data that is collected, tracked and passed on when we are online. As we spend more time online we are creating personal data at a rate never seen before. The personal data of children is being collected too.
Get advice and tips on how to have a conversation with young people about their digital lives:
As part of our work in the UK Safer Internet Centre
Co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility of European Union