research-article

'No Telling Passcodes Out Because They're Private': Understanding Children's Mental Models of Privacy and Security Online

Authors:

Shalmali Milind Naik,

Utkarsha Ramesh Devkar,

Marshini Chetty,

Tamara L. Clegg,

Jessica VitakAuthors Info & Claims

Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, Volume 1, Issue CSCW

Article No.: 64, Pages 1 - 21

https://doi.org/10.1145/3134699

Published: 06 December 2017 Publication History

Abstract

Children under age 12 increasingly use Internet-connected devices to go online. And while Internet use exposes people to privacy and security risks, few studies examine how these children perceive and address such concerns. To fill this gap, we conducted a qualitative study of 18 U.S. families with children ages 5-11. We found that children recognized certain privacy and security components from the contextual integrity framework, but children ages 5-7 had gaps in their knowledge. Children developed some strategies to manage concerns but largely relied on parents for support. Parents primarily used passive strategies to mediate children's device use and largely deferred teaching children about these concerns to the future. We argue that helping children develop strong privacy and security practices at a young age will prepare them to manage their privacy and security as adolescents and adults. We offer recommendations to scaffold children's learning on privacy and security.

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Cited By

Levinson LCharisi VZotos CGomez RŠabanović S(2025)Let us make robots “Think in child!”: How children conceptualize fairness, inclusion, and privacy with social robotsInternational Journal of Child-Computer Interaction10.1016/j.ijcci.2024.10070643(100706)Online publication date: Mar-2025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcci.2024.100706
Farthing RKoren Ošljak KAkuetteh TCamacho KSmith-Nunes GZhao J(2024)Online Privacy, Young People, and Datafication: Different Perceptions About Online Privacy Across Antigua & Barbuda, Australia, Ghana, and SloveniaSocial Media + Society10.1177/2056305124129804210:4Online publication date: 11-Nov-2024
https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241298042
Schäfer RSahabi SBrocker ABorchers J(2024)Growing Up With Dark Patterns: How Children Perceive Malicious User Interface DesignsProceedings of the 13th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/3679318.3685358(1-17)Online publication date: 13-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3679318.3685358
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

'No Telling Passcodes Out Because They're Private': Understanding Children's Mental Models of Privacy and Security Online
1. Security and privacy
  1. Human and societal aspects of security and privacy
    1. Social aspects of security and privacy
2. Social and professional topics
  1. User characteristics
    1. Age
      1. Children

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cover image Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction

Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction Volume 1, Issue CSCW

November 2017

2095 pages

EISSN:2573-0142

DOI:10.1145/3171581

Editors:
Clifford Lampe
University of Michigan
,
Jeff Nichols
Google
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Karrie Karahalios
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
,
Geraldine Fitzpatrick
Vienna University of Technology
,
Uichin Lee
KAIST
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Andres Monroy-Hernandez
Snap Inc.
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Wolfgang Stuerzlinger
Simon Fraser University

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Publication History

Published: 06 December 2017

Published in PACMHCI Volume 1, Issue CSCW

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Cited By

Levinson LCharisi VZotos CGomez RŠabanović S(2025)Let us make robots “Think in child!”: How children conceptualize fairness, inclusion, and privacy with social robotsInternational Journal of Child-Computer Interaction10.1016/j.ijcci.2024.10070643(100706)Online publication date: Mar-2025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcci.2024.100706
Farthing RKoren Ošljak KAkuetteh TCamacho KSmith-Nunes GZhao J(2024)Online Privacy, Young People, and Datafication: Different Perceptions About Online Privacy Across Antigua & Barbuda, Australia, Ghana, and SloveniaSocial Media + Society10.1177/2056305124129804210:4Online publication date: 11-Nov-2024
https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241298042
Schäfer RSahabi SBrocker ABorchers J(2024)Growing Up With Dark Patterns: How Children Perceive Malicious User Interface DesignsProceedings of the 13th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/3679318.3685358(1-17)Online publication date: 13-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3679318.3685358
Kumar PZimmer MVitak J(2024)A Roadmap for Applying the Contextual Integrity Framework in Qualitative Privacy ResearchProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36537108:CSCW1(1-29)Online publication date: 26-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3653710
Figueira OTrimananda RMarkopoulou AJordan SVallina-Rodríguez NSuarez-Tángil GLevin DPelsser C(2024)DiffAudit: Auditing Privacy Practices of Online Services for Children and AdolescentsProceedings of the 2024 ACM on Internet Measurement Conference10.1145/3646547.3688416(488-504)Online publication date: 4-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3646547.3688416
Ma RZhang ZGui XKou Y(2024)Labeling in the Dark: Exploring Content Creators’ and Consumers’ Experiences with Content Classification for Child Safety on YouTubeProceedings of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3643834.3661565(1518-1532)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3643834.3661565
Blinder EChetty MVitak JTorok ZFessehazion SYip JFails JBonsignore EClegg T(2024)Evaluating the Use of Hypothetical 'Would You Rather' Scenarios to Discuss Privacy and Security Concepts with ChildrenProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36410048:CSCW1(1-32)Online publication date: 26-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3641004
Elmimouni HBaumer EForte A(2024)On Being an Expert: Habitus as a Lens for Understanding Privacy ExpertiseProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36373798:CSCW1(1-25)Online publication date: 26-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3637379
Sun KKanchi REllo FCo LWu MGelman SRadesky JSchaub FYip J(2024)"Why is Everything in the Cloud?": Co-Designing Visual Cues Representing Data Processes with ChildrenProceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference10.1145/3628516.3655819(517-532)Online publication date: 17-Jun-2024
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Currin FHourcade J(2024)Creating Personas of Parents of Young Children Based on Balancing PrioritiesProceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference10.1145/3628516.3655790(105-118)Online publication date: 17-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3628516.3655790
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