Datafication of Children
Datafication
Datafication, or being datafied, is the new trend that is happening more and more when our actions online are changed to quantifiable data. This data can be monitored, analyzed, and tracked. It can be leveraged by companies for practices like targeted advertisements.
Many individuals in our generation began making their social media footprint once they turned 13 years old, the age required in order to make an account. Teenagers would pick their own photos and videos they wanted to display of themselves in order to portray their own image. This is evolving. As these teenagers are growing up to adulthood and having babies themselves, their social media use is not changing.
Children’s interactions with the internet is increasing. Toddlers are using toys that connect and upload data to the internet, like CloudPets, which stored voice memos and was eventually hacked. Parents are creating social media profiles for their unborn fetuses and continue to post about their child well into their young child years. Parents are oftentimes violating their child’s privacy, especially depending on how personal the shared content is.
Example
Ari and Lauren created an Instagram account for their unborn baby when it was only weeks old in the womb. The baby was born on ###, and the parents continue to post content of their baby. What happens when it comes time for the kid to take over their social media? What happens when the kid becomes cognizant of the fact that its mom is posting private information about it without its approval.
The Risks
The online information and data that is collected on a child, especially before the age of their consent, may have negative implications.
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was created in 1998 requiring websites to include a privacy policy and instructions on when a child under 13 years of age must obtain consent from a parent, as well as responsibilities the website has in order to protect the child’s online privacy and safety. This law was intended to protect children under 13 from the oftentimes negative nature of the internet.
Although COPPA exists in order to protect young children from the effects of the Internet, the children are still being posted online through parents’ pages. By the time kids are 13 years old, parents will have posted 1300 photos and videos of their child to social media. This number reaches about 70,000 posts by the time they are 18 years old due to the child’s own posts (Children’s Commissioner).
