I’m a cybersecurity expert – here’s the sites and games I would never let my children use

Popular services like Snapchat and Roblox collect massive amounts of data from kids who may not know what they’re giving away, warns Tom Gaffney, cybersecurity expert at F-Secure.

Tom Gaffney said some popular social sites scan everything from a user’s contact list to the hard drives connected to their computer – and that criminals have also targeted children in popular online games.

Ad companies hold up to 72 million “data points” of information about the average 13-year-old child, according to 2017 research from advertising company SuperAwesome.

Gaffney said he would never let his kids use popular apps like Snapchat, TikTok or Roblox because of fears about how data is collected and used.

Both Snapchat and Tiktok prohibit children under 13 under their terms of service, while Roblox has no minimum age.

Gaffney said, “From a privacy point of view, all apps are data-hungry, which makes me loathe kids using them.

“The driver for capturing data is monetization. Apps collect the data and then sell it to data brokers and advertisers. If you consider this for apps targeting young people, it becomes more of a concern because children are less likely to withhold personal information they provide in the app.

roblox

Roblox has no age limit and has 230 million users worldwide, many of them children.

Reports earlier this year suggested that there is a thriving “underworld” at play, with underage hackers targeting children and stealing in-game goods or account information.

Children are “easy targets” for criminals, Gaffney said.

Gaffney warned, “One way Roblox can be hijacked is through phishing, where someone sends the user an email or text message that looks like it’s legitimately from the company. The message prompts the person to click a link or download an attachment.

“If that happens, the hacker has gained access. Children are potentially easier targets because they are less aware of the risks and whether a message is suspicious.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Roblox for comment.

Messenger Children

Messenger Kids offers a messaging platform aimed at young people, where parents sign up on behalf of their children.

But this year, the Federal Trade Commission alleged that Facebook misled parents about how much control they had over who children interacted with on the app.

The FTC also ruled that Facebook was misleading about how much access app developers had to private data.

Gaffney said: ‘Meta has been criticized for alleged security breaches in the Messenger Kids app and other more general privacy concerns related to children’s private data.

Gaffney advises that WhatsApp is more secure, as data is protected with end-to-end encryption.

He said: “WhatsApp is more secure in that regard. The messages on the WhatsApp platform are secured with end-to-end encryption, which means it has a private communication system and ensures that third parties, such as Google, cannot read that are sent from one phone to another.”

DailyMail.com has reached out to Meta for comment.

TikTok

TikTok “aggressively” collects data from users, making it inappropriate for children, Gaffney believes.

The platform offers several tools for younger users, including a 60-minute time limit and a “Family Pairing” tool that allows adults to control what children see.

But the way it collects data is “very intrusive,” Gaffney said.

Gaffney said: “TikTok, whose users from the age of 10 have been using the app, has one of the most aggressive approaches to data collection, which has resulted in the app being fined millions of pounds for data protection breaches.

“TikTok’s data collection methods are reportedly very intrusive; collecting users’ contact lists, accessing calendars, scanning hard drives, including external ones, and geolocating devices – on an hourly basis.”

DailyMail.com has reached out to TikTok for comment.

snapchat

SnapChat poses risks to young people in terms of “account hijacking” where criminals take over a user’s account, Gaffney warns.

Snap Inc, SnapChat’s parent company, says users under 13 are not allowed to use the app, and also offers tools like Family Center to help parents manage child accounts.

Gaffney said: “Social networking apps are prone to ‘account hijacking’ – when someone gains unauthorized access to the account. This can be done if a hacker has access to a password. If other accounts have been hacked and the user usually uses the same password, it becomes easy for hackers to access multiple platforms. That’s why it’s important to introduce kids to a password management service early – start good habits early!

DailyMail.com has reached out to SnapChat for comment.