The fourth tip for Cyber Smart Week focuses on reading Use Agreements.

ALWAYS READ YOUR USE AGREEMENTS

When you sign up to a service, you are normally asked to agree to some terms of use.  As confident digital citizens, we need to take the time to read through these so we know what we are agreeing to and are comfortable with the transaction.

There are a plethora of services we use on a daily basis that help us connect with others (such as Facebook, Snapchat or Instagram) or help us find and store information (such as Google or Microsoft).  Many of these companies offer their services for ‘free’. It is often said that ‘if you aren’t paying for the product, then you are the product.’  So, if we aren’t paying with money, how are we paying?

For many of these services we pay by sharing our information with them.  Picture a wallet and instead of money flying out of it and into the company’s bank account, imagine little bytes of information about us doing the same thing (our name, our age, what we like, where we live, who our friends are, etc.).  When signing up to these services, ask questions like “Who owns the information I share?  What does this company do with the data it gathers about me? Who can access my location information?”  By ensuring we read the terms, we are informed of the ‘price’ and can then confidently enjoy the benefits these services provide.

– Guest Blogger, Lyn Granshaw – Education Technology Specialist

THANKS FOR FOLLOWING ALONG WITH CYBER SMART WEEK

Useful Tips and Links for Parents

• If a movie or game has a red restricted label of R13, R15, R16 or R18 it is “illegal to show or give the movie or game to anyone under the age stated on the label”.  We are usually confident of this in regard to movies, but perhaps not so informed in relation to games.  An example of this is the game Grand Theft Auto.  This game may appear as a simple car racing game, but it much more than that and as such has been labelled as R18. Taking the time to check the ratings and sharing this information with others is a great example of being ‘cyber smart’.
• Netsafe offers a free and confidential service if you are expereincing online bullying, abuse and harassment. You can email them for advice or ring them on 0508 NETSAFE (0508 638 723).  They also have some great information for parents so you can help your children to be cyber smart too.
• Be smart on social media – visit CERT NZ for tips on how to keep your social media accounts safe and secure
• Learning the ‘Netbasics’ – entertaining animated clips to help clarify topics such as being aware of email attachments, firewalls, dodgy password requests and more