Facebook underage signups grow thanks to parents

A new study which was part funded by Microsoft shows that children under 13 are signing up for Facebook, which breaches the federal laws in America, to protect children's online privacy.

According to the report, there are millions of underage kids signing up for Facebook, and many parents are helping their children to lie, getting them online.

The findings show that 7 out of 10 parents said they helped their children set up accounts, violating the companies terms of service rules.

Danah Boyd, the co author of ‘Why Parents Helps Their Children Lie to Facebook about Age' said “There has been outrage about underaged children being on Facebook. And as it turns out, many parents are not only okay with it — they are helping their children set up accounts.”

Harris Interactive handled the survey, which was sourced from 1,007 parents aged 26 and older with children from ages 10 to 14 who live with them.

A hot topic of conversation right now is COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) and it has been discovered by Consumer Reports that there are around 7 million underage users on Facebook.

It would appear that parents want their children online at a very early age, often assisting the kids to set up email accounts to even communicate with friends and family.

Jeff Chester, a director with privacy group, Center for Digital Democracy has said in a statement Few parents — let alone children and teens — understand or can control the data collection and online targeting applications deployed by Facebook’s social media surveillance system.” He added that if parents knew then they might act differently.

There have also been reports made that Facebook actually can ‘destroy your kids brain‘. Seems a little extreme, but perhaps too much social networking at a young age can repress growth.

Kitguru says: Do you have young kids on Facebook? Do you think it is a safe platform for them to be active on?

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