Why Privacy Matters For Teens: Reasons and Essential Tips

Sure, teens are often good at keeping secrets from their parents. They hide stuff like their secret group of friends, crushes, or the things they spend money on. But when it comes to the online world, teens aren’t as private as they think.

Privacy matters for teens because their data is currency, their digital footprint can affect their future opportunities, risks of identity theft, and they can be targeted with online scams.

According to the Pew Research Center, 97% of teens say they’re using the internet daily in 2022. The top platforms they use are YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.

While teens value privacy when it comes to personal stuff and offline interactions, they’re not as private whenever they go online. There are a few reasons for this.

• Peer Validation: Likes and views matter so much for teens because social validation is part of a teen’s life. This peer validation encourages teenagers to post more online, without regard for what they expose, whether it's their location, personal problems, or other sensitive information. This can be a big problem (you’ll find out later).
  
• Fear of Missing Out (FOMO): Most teens have the fear of missing out. This is because they’re in a stage where they’re trying to build peer relationships, and the unmet social needs can make them feel left out. This encourages teens to emulate what their peers are doing online. For example, teens are likely to do a home tour TikTok trend that many other teens are doing. If there’s an online quiz that many teens are so hyped about, then other teens are likely to take it. But as teens stay in the culture, their data is being collected in the background.
  
• Dopamine Loops: Lastly, social media is literally designed to trigger a dopamine loop (the brain chemical associated with pleasure and our reward system). Essentially, whenever teens get a notification,, it taps into their brain chemicals, making them feel rewarded, which can be addictive. This makes teens post more, and have a hard time unplugging, at the price of their privacy.

So, why is online privacy so important for teenagers? There are 4 major reasons. Let’s talk about them:

It’s wild, but every time teens go online, their data is converted to a form of currency. This is not some sort of conspiracy. Social media sites, apps, and even free games collect teen data. Then, it’s sold to data brokers like ID Crawl and Numlookup (companies collect and sell consumers' data to build profiles, sell ads, and influence buying habits).

This is a problem because teens will be targeted with highly personalized ads based on their browsing history or buying patterns. Teens are also at risk of inaccurate profiling. For example, data brokers might tell insurance companies inaccurate information about a teen’s alcohol consumption just because they searched for alcohol once, affecting their insurance coverage.

Data brokers may also share wrong information with the police, which can directly affect a teen’s safety.

Online privacy is also really important for teens because their digital footprint can affect their college, scholarship, and even their job prospects.

A Reddit user shared their story, warning about the long-term effects of a digital footprint. Now almost 20, the user applied for multiple colleges and scholarships, but got rejected from all of them. The problem? The admissions staff found the fan fiction she posted online when she was a young teen. All they needed was her email. She’s in disbelief because, despite being a valedictorian and heavily involved in volunteering, her dreams are being disrupted by her past online activity.

This case highlights how your past online activity can have a serious impact on life opportunities. It also shows the importance of online privacy for teens.

You might think: “I’m too young to worry about identity theft.” Well, think again. Because, as you've learned, your data gets collected and sold whenever you share it online. And those companies that collect your information can get hacked, putting your data at risk of being sold on the dark web, where other cyber criminals can buy it.

What’s next? Fraudsters start using your information to steal your identity. This means they can use your name to open bank accounts, apply for loans, and even get college scholarships. That’s why teens should be careful of what they share online.

The last reason why privacy is important for teens is the risk of scams. Whenever teenagers are online, scammers set their eyes on them. Some of the common scams targeted at teens are fake talent contests, weight loss scams, fake scholarships, and free gadgets scams.

Scammers can also use the information you share on social media. For example, if you make a tweet saying that you’re feeling lonely, scammers can pose as a peer and target you with romance scams.

You already know why privacy is important for teens. Now, here’s what you can do to protect your privacy:

• Tip No. 1: Make Your Socials Private: Understandably, you can’t fully quit the internet or social media. But one thing you can do is to make your social media profiles private. That way, only real friends will be able to follow you and see what you post.
  
• Tip No. 2: Use Strong, Unique Passwords: If big companies can get hacked, so can you. So, no more weak passwords (e.g., ilovedogs123, qwerty, and p@sswords) for your online accounts. It’s also ideal to use a password manager.
  
• Tip No. 3: Turn Off Location Sharing: Check your device and the apps you use, and make sure that location sharing is off. Remember, your Instagram stories don’t need to let stalkers know where you are 24/7.
  
• Tip No. 4: Don’t Take Suspicious Quizzes: Online quizzes are mostly just companies wanting to know more about you. So, skip online quizzes (especially ones that ask for your birth date, school, or address).
  
• Tip No. 5: Regularly Clean Up Accounts and Posts: Make it a habit to delete old posts or abandoned accounts. This will help you avoid not getting opportunities because of your digital footprint.
  
• Tip No. 6: Opt Out of Data Brokers: Yes, you can take back what data brokers got from you by simply opting out. You can do this manually or with the help of MyDataRemoval. You can check our family plan.

In a nutshell, privacy is essential for teens. And no. It’s not about hiding or being paranoid. It’s about protecting what’s yours.

Being a teen in this age of the internet means that you have to grow in a world where your personal data is treated as a commodity. But you’re not powerless. You can protect yourself with the tips we've shared in this blog.

Why do teens keep a secret?

Sometimes, teenagers keep their feelings hidden because they need space to process them. Other times, teens keep secrets to protect their honor and avoid shame or guilt. Lastly, if they’re doing something that you wouldn't be okay with, they’ll hide it.

At what age do kids start to want a little privacy?

Kids between the ages of 6 and 7 start to develop a sense of urgency. This is the stage where your child may start asking for a particular type of clothing or insisting on taking a bath alone, with a closed bathroom door.