Talk:Datafication of Children

Kevin Lee

Hey, this is a topic I've been quite interested and concerned with for some time, and I think its an issue that doesn't get as much attention as it should. With the introduction of flurry of social media ecosystems, we've all seen older generation adopt the various platforms and naturally share their personal life which may include young children. I often see my older cousins post pictures of their newborn or various "family youtube channels" video being trending on the front page of Youtube, often featuring videos on their soon-to-be-born child. I liked how you give concrete examples of where data is being collected on these very young individuals that may are not able to exercise their own agency yet, such as the toy you mentioned. I think it may be good to expand upon or forecast the potential issues that may stem from these practices. This is a difficult issue to address by nature since we may not see the full consequences of this until the young children grow up and realize that there are a lot of information about themselves on the web even though they didn't give direct consent. Or maybe you could look back in history and see if theres a relatable example that we can learn from, where a parent acted or divulged information on the behalf of their children without their consent - I think that might be interesting. Good Job!