Smart Phones, Smart Watches, and Internet Connected Devices
Okay, this is an obvious but incredibly difficult entry. Mobile internet-connected devices are a flashing target for advertisers, online creeps, hackers, and even foreign state governments all eager to siphon up users’ data. The intimacy and immediacy of access granted by mobile devices potentially makes the harms associated with other tech products, like social media and games, all the more pervasive. At the same time though, restricting people from using mobile devices in 2023 is increasingly akin to preventing people from walking outside. Even if you did want to keep phones out of kids’ hands, the battle’s lost for most teens. As of 2019, Pew Research estimated nearly all (95%) of U.S. teens had access to smartphones.
Still, ParentTogether recommends taking steps to limit children’s use of social media, particularly those who are under the age of 13. The less time they spend on their phones and on social media, the fewer data advertising firms can siphon up from them. ParentsTogether estimates online advertising firms already have 72 million data points on an average kid by the time they reach the age of 13.
