Protecting children's privacy online: How parental mediation strategies affect website safeguard effectiveness

Concern toward children's safety in an online environment has resulted in demands for safeguards to protect their online privacy when involved with a wide variety of commercial websites. Unfortunately, little academic research has examined how effective safeguards are in limiting children's disclosure of information. We fill this void by examining how proposed safeguards may interact with various types of parental involvement in limiting children's willingness to disclose information online. The results of two studies involving preteen, young teen, and older teen children show that safeguard effectiveness depends on both the type of parental mediation and the particular age group. Implications are presented for retailers, educators, and parents.