BBB Tip: Back to School
Internet Safety Tips
Milwaukee, Wis. – As your children head back to school this year, buying new supplies and clothes is not enough. You also should be thinking about how to help them stay safe online and avoid being easy targets for online scammers.
Parents: Be careful
Creating accounts on websites without permission: Social media sites are ripe with strangers with intentions that may be quite different than yours. Many sites are designed to collect and sell unauthorized user details and behaviors to advertisers looking to engage in targeted marketing. Some kids may falsely create a birthdate to meet the minimum age requirement when creating an account. Know what your child is doing online, and keep track of the social media sites and accounts to which they have access.
Contests and giveaways: Contests and giveaways often collect a hefty amount of personal information on their entry forms. Many are thinly disguised ways of collecting personal or financial information that could lead to identity theft. Make sure your child doesn’t have access to banking or credit card information and supervise the filling out of any forms.
Phishing: Adults are not the only ones who receive spam and junk mail. Kids often get junk mail, and since they don’t have much online experience, they are more susceptible to click on links and answer questions they probably shouldn’t. While some emails may be legitimate, the last thing parents want, or need, is a $500 bill from a fraudulent website where a purchase may have been made- or worse, giving up personal information that can be tracked back to your home.
Understand apps. Short for “applications,” apps are downloaded software that operates on various devices, such as smartphones. However, certain apps might collect and share personal information about your child or target your child with ads. Even free apps may include paid features, and children may not understand that some apps or game features cost money, since they were labeled free to download. They may click on these so-called free games and end up costing parents or guardians a hefty bill at the end of the month.
File sharing sites: Many websites allow children to download free media. A child may not realize that these sites often come with the risk of downloading a virus, allowing identity thieves to access the gaming device, personal computer or cell phone that’s being used. From there, the cyberthief can track financial transactions, physical location or even tap into the household wifi without anyone knowing it.
Tips on how to manage online privacy for the family:
Kenosha County Provides over 400 Narcan Packs During Mobile Resource Unit
KENOSHA — In an effort to provide more visibility of behavioral health services within the community, the Kenosha County Division of Aging, Disability & Behavioral Health Services in partnership with Kenosha County Public Health offered a mobile human services unit, “Human Services on the Go.”
The mobile unit was present for community events at local venues such as the Alliance Women’s Clinic, The Sharing Center and the ELCA Outreach Center, as well as the Kenosha County Fair.
“It was great to see the public’s interest in the behavioral health resources that Human Services on the Go brought out to people at the County Fair and other community locations this summer,” said Kenosha County Executive Samantha Kerkman. “These efforts are all about making it easier for people to learn about the life-saving services that are available through Kenosha County. We look forward to continuing this outreach in the future.”
Community collaboration with organizations like the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department — which recently made a significant arrest and seizure of narcotics, prescription drugs and fentanyl — validates the impact of a multi-system approach in tackling the Opioid Crisis in Kenosha, Foss said.
