Gifts in the digital age

The days of opening dollhouses and action figures from under the tree are long gone. Today, children and youth are receiving more and more toys that connect digitally to a phone or laptop. Gifts of online subscriptions are on the rise and tablets themselves have become popular presents. In today’s digital age, it’s becoming ever-important to ensure your child’s access to electronics and digital presence is safe and healthy.

If your child has received a gift you don’t know a lot about, take the time to research it through verified sources. It’s imperative to understand how that digital gift or a toy’s connected app may be using or storing their information. Review the company’s privacy policy and ensure it includes clear guidelines on who is collecting the data, how it is stored and used and what the parental rights are for removing that information.

Some toys require parental consent for children to use them. If this is the case, be sure to read the policy carefully rather than quickly clicking through. The app itself can ask your child for personal information that it may not securely store, or worse, actually sell to fraudsters and criminals.

Other apps appear safe and are quite well-known. But even they can cause headaches and unwanted surprises. Many parents have found themselves in deep water after not realizing the extent of in-app advertising or in-game purchases. One mother reported a $16,000 bill from her son playing a game on his iPad and, unbeknownst to her, agreeing to in-game offers.

Some apps may host advertising that is inappropriate or even dangerous for them. A study published in the Journal of Development and Pediatric Behaviours found many apps that requested access to phone functionality, the phone’s microphone, camera and even location. Unsupervised, a child may simply agree to these requests without thinking or knowing what they’re doing.

With digital products become more prevalent, it’s important to keep up to date on what your child is watching or playing with. After a busy gift-giving season, take a moment to understand what they’ve been given and how it might impact them or your wallet. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking your child has only received gifts from people you trust, thus all is OK. But many well-intentioned gift givers don’t always understand the dangers of certain digital toys.

Now is also a good time of year to pay extra attention to your bank statement for any sign of in-game purchases or subscription add-ons you don’t remember agreeing to. Be sure to flag any signs of fraud with your credit card company and change your passwords if you believe any of your accounts have been compromised during the holiday gift-buying rush.