Privacy: What Not To Share and Why
Help your child understand what personal information is, how it’s used, and how to make confident decisions about sharing online.
Why this matters
For many young people, sharing online is not something they stop to think about; it’s how they connect, express themselves, and take part in social life. Posting, commenting, messaging, and reacting all happen quickly and often without much reflection.
What’s less visible is what happens after something is shared.
Information online can:
- be copied or screenshotted
- be reshared beyond the intended audience
- be stored by platforms
- contribute to a longer-term digital footprint
This doesn’t mean young people should stop sharing, but it does mean they need support to understand how information travels and how to stay in control of it.
What counts as personal information (and why it matters)
Personal information isn’t just the obvious details. Young people often recognise things like their full name or address, but may not realise that these also matter:
- photos that show where they are
- school uniforms or landmarks in the background
- usernames that include personal details
- casual information shared in chats (“I’m home alone”, “I go to…”)
- location tags or live sharing
Individually, these may seem harmless. But together, they can build a detailed picture of who someone is, where they are, and how to contact them.
Helping your child understand that small pieces of information add up is one of the most important parts of privacy education.
Why young people share (and why that’s okay)
To guide your child effectively, it helps to understand why sharing happens.
Young people share because they want to connect with friends, feel included, or express identity. They might also be responding in the moment or following social norms (e.g. trends, group chats).
This means conversations about privacy work best when they:
- don’t shame or restrict
- acknowledge that sharing is normal
- focus on making thoughtful choices, not avoiding sharing altogether
How to support your child
Instead of relying only on rules like “don’t share personal information,” it’s more effective to help your child build judgement.
That means helping them ask:
- Who is this really for?
- Could this be shared beyond who I expect?
- Am I sharing this because I want to—or because I feel pressure to?
- Would I feel okay if this came up later?
These kinds of questions help shift from reacting in the moment to making intentional decisions.
When sharing can create risk
Most sharing is harmless, but there are situations where it can create risk, including:
- Unwanted contact (sharing information can make it easier for someone to reach out)
- Privacy loss (information being shared beyond the intended audience)
- Social pressure or conflict (posts being misinterpreted or used in arguments)
- Longer-term impact (content affecting how others perceive them)
You don’t need to present these as worst-case scenarios, just helping your child understand that sharing has consequences, both positive and negative, is enough.
Practical ways to support your child
Make privacy visible
Privacy can feel invisible, so it helps to make it more concrete.
You might:
- look at a profile together and ask what someone could learn from it
- talk about what different audiences (friends, teachers, strangers) might see
Talk about “layers” of sharing
Not everything has to be public or private, there are levels.
Help your child think about:
- what’s okay for close friends
- what’s okay for a wider group
- what shouldn’t be shared at all
Build habits, not fear
Focus on small, repeatable behaviours:
- pausing before posting
- checking who can see something
- asking before sharing others’ content
These habits are more effective than one-off rules.
Keep conversations ongoing
Privacy isn’t a one-time conversation, it changes as your child grows, uses new apps, and gains more independence.
Regular, low-pressure conversations are more effective than reacting only when something goes wrong.
A final thought
Learning about privacy isn’t about getting everything right, it’s about building awareness over time.
Start with
✔ Does your child understand that small pieces of information can add up?
✔ Do they feel confident deciding what to share in different situations?
✔ Have you talked about how sharing can spread beyond the original audience?
By helping your child understand how information works online, and supporting them to make thoughtful choices, you’re giving them skills they’ll use well beyond childhood.
