Lesson unlearned: More US kids are being hit by digital ID fraud than last year

One in 43 U.S. children has had personal data exposed in a data breach in the last year, according to a report by Javelin Strategy & Research.

That is 1.7 million kids. Children younger than seven years are the most apt to be hit and suffer identity fraud in the future.

Last year the ratio was one in 50 kids, according to Javelin.

Those are sobering totals, considering that they will suffer the consequences and be a target for additional thefts for the rest of their lives.

Last year, the ratio was one in 50 kids, according to Javelin, and the total cost of child digital ID fraud was almost $1 billion.

Social media use is a prime factor in being targeted. Yet parents also are a risk when they give up their child’s Social Security number without even asking why someone else would need to know, according to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Most immediately, according to Javelin, it will take an average of 16 hours to deal with it, more than twice as long than for an adult to clear up their own identity theft.

The three platforms that parents should particularly watch are Twitch — which last year was used by 31 percent of children — Twitter (30 percent) and Facebook (25 percent).

Incode CEO Ricardo Ampere recently explained the threat of identity theft and digital ID fraud as it relates to gaming in a Biometric Update guest post. He spotlighted the increased risk this poses to children online.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  children  |  cybersecurity  |  data privacy  |  fraud prevention