Today’s children and teens live much of their lives online. Social media is a center for them to socialize, form their identities, and get information. Almost all teens in developed countries use the internet daily, often through smartphones. Popular platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat capture their attention.1
However, this intense connection creates serious concerns. Heavy use of those platforms is related to mental health issues like anxiety and depression.2 More importantly, for this paper, young users face major risks to their privacy and data security.3 Children and teens are vulnerable to online threats. They may not fully understand how their data is collected, the long term consequences of sharing their information, or how targeted ads and algorithms influence their habits.4 They are developing their identities in digital platforms which are often designed to make money from their data, not to protect them.
To understand these problems, we must look at three connected factors: technology, business models, and laws. Technology includes how these platforms are designed, the algorithms controlling content for users, and how data is gathered.5 These designs shape user experiences and create risks. Business models, mainly “surveillance capitalism”6, rely on collecting user data to predict their behavior and mostly aim to do it for targeted ads.7 This pushes platforms to collect more data even if often it means ignoring privacy.8 Laws like COPPA9, GDPR-K10, and PIPEDA11 try to set rules, but struggle to keep up with technology and enforce compliance