BIG data is big business. Giant companies are amassing our most personal information for their own gain – while we often give it away for nothing, if not entirely willingly (see “Net worth: Reclaiming our personal data”).
Not everyone’s information is free for the taking, though. Restrictions on data-gathering about children has driven many sites to forbid members under the age of 13, although such bans are widely circumvented.
We should be keener to enforce them, because they provide a useful window of opportunity to teach children good habits. A good model might be sex education: instil basic principles of…
