Attorney General Bird Releases Tips for Keeping Kids Safe Online

DES MOINES-Continuing her priority to keep children safe online, today Attorney General Brenna Bird released some helpful tips for parents, teachers and caregivers.

"As a mom and a prosecutor, I know how important it is for parents to be aware of online dangers targeting their kids," said Attorney General Bird. "It's valuable for parents to know what steps they can take to keep their kids safe, and to know they have support from my office."

Phone and Social Media Safety Tips

• Create a Barrier. Use both your phone's global privacy and security settings-- and any separate privacy or security settings for apps-- to limit or block access to location sharing, media, and cameras. Some settings let you hide kids' profiles from others.

• Consider imposing screen limits. Phones or apps often have features that allow you to set limits on when kids are allowed to use the phones, which apps and content they can access, and for how long.

• Require Permission. Phones or apps usually have settings that let you disable downloading or purchasing features so that your permission is needed before a child can download or purchase content.

• Block Inappropriate Content. Phones and apps may have settings that can be used to block sensitive or inappropriate content. These restrictions are intended to allow kids access to age-appropriate content only on their phones.

• Restrict Chatting. Some games and apps give you the ability to put restrictions on chats, so children communicate only to people you've allowed.

Video Game Safety Tips

• Verify Game Rating. You can use game rating restrictions to allow a child access only to age-appropriate games. Consider verifying for yourself that a game is indeed appropriate.

• Control Spending. You can impose settings that restrict in-game spending by turning it off, requiring a password, or setting a dollar limit on in-game purchases.

• Restrict Chatting. Chat restrictions allow you to turn off the chat function with other players, or limit who a child can chat with while playing a video game.

• Do Not Share Location. Some mobile games and apps use a player's location and might broadcast it to others. Most phones and tablets let you turn off this feature.

• Use Profile Settings. Profile settings let you create profiles for individual family members, with different restrictions for each person - instead of letting kids play on an unrestricted adult account.

As a final note, Attorney General Bird cautions that although the above tips are helpful, parents should not fully trust that the technological protections always work. She encourages parents to manually check to verify and ensure that a child is protected.

To report a game or platform that you believe is violating age-appropriate standards, contact the Iowa Attorney General's office at 1-888-777-4590 or file a complaint online here.

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For More Information:

Jen Green

[email protected]