supports parents and carers to have open conversations with children about online privacy.

As the digital world has become more complex, many parents and carers have been left unsure where to start. Our research highlighted that while three quarters (75%) of parents don’t think their children can make safe choices about what personal information they share online, one in five have never talked to them about it. This points less to a lack of concern, and more to how difficult it can be for parents to know when to start these conversations, how much to say, and how to explain abstract concepts like tracking or digital consent to young children.
This is where Switched on to privacy comes in. This is not a campaign telling parents to “do better”. It’s about making something that feels complicated more manageable. It’s about giving parents simple tools to have small, repeated conversations that build understanding over time. We don’t wait until children are allowed out alone to teach them how to cross the road. We start with simple rules, repeated often, and build from there. The digital world shouldn’t be any different.
At the same time, none of this removes the responsibility on organisations to design services that work in children’s best interests.

At its heart, Switched on to privacy is about giving children the tools to make sense of the digital world, and their parents and carers the confidence to support them along the way. We’d encourage you to watch our film series, visit our web hub and share this content with friends and family. If we want children to be switched on to privacy later in life, we need to start giving them the language and understanding to talk about it now.