They say that 82% of children (aged 2 years or younger) in 10 western countries have an online presence. The problem is, "disclosing a lot of personal info, such as birth dates, middle names and mothers' maiden names -- which can be carelessly inserted into photo captions -- can aid identity thieves."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/10/07/baby.pictures/index.html
I don't know, why would you even want to steal a 2-year old's identity? They don't have credit cards to steal from.
ReplyDeleteI also don't believe the figure at all. I would argue that not even 92% of US adults even have an online presence. of some kind.
Also, anyone notice how most news sites never link to the original study?
I don't think that the intent is to steal the 2-year old's identity, but rather to be able to get more information about the mother. The mother might use her maiden name, child's birthday, child's middlename in some form of a security question.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do agree with you that the figure for online presence seems a little high and also question the validity of these "studies".