Parents not protecting children online

New research from Microsoft Australia shows 65% of Australian parents are not doing enough to protect children online.

The “For Safety’s Sake” report has found that 66% of parents are concerned about online activity, but that more than 60% allow children to browse unsupervised.

Additionally, the report found that 20% of parents have found children looking at inappropriate material, with almost 33% of children caught talking to strangers.

Chair of Electronic Frontiers Australia, Nicolas Suzar, told Dynamic Business that the report shows parents do not believe filtering is the best way to protect children online. He said the statistic that shows 60% of parents know about filters but only half choose to use them indicates filtering is not ideal.

Microsoft chief security advisor Stuart Strathdee said in a statement parents need to be aware of what is happening on their home computers at all times.

“Don’t be in the dark about your children’s online lives. For adults, the risks may be controlled by filtering technologies but protecting children while they are using computers can be quite challenging.”