My wife and I have five kids, all under the age of 10 years old. The three oldest (ages 5, 8, and 10) are already familiar with the Internet and Google for searching for kids games and activities, and the eventual school report. We have recently taken the steps to ensure they will not accidentally stumble across a inappropriate sites by configuring OpenDNS on our home network. Also, we’ve found there are additional methods we can take as parents when it comes to protecting your child’s personal information and privacy online.

• Check out sites your kids visit, and see what kind of information the sites ask for or allow kids to post.

• Talk to your child about the risks and benefits of disclosing certain information, especially in a public forum.

• Take a look at the privacy policy, which should say what the site does with the information it collects. Then you can decide how you feel about it.

• Ask questions. If you’re not clear on a site’s practices or policies, ask about them.

• Be selective with your permission. In many cases, websites need your okay before they’re allowed to collect personal information from your kids.

• Know your rights. For example, as a parent, you have the right to have a site delete any personal information it has about your child.

• Report a website. If you think a site has collected or disclosed information from your kids or marketed to them in a way that violates the law, report it to the FTC.

We’re all familiar with the web by now and over the years have come to know first-hand the dangers that are out there. When it comes to our children, we can never to be too safe.

To expand on the points above and to learn more about how you can protect your child’s online privacy, please visit OnGuardOnline.gov.