Parents urged to stay ahead of their children on digital literacy

The National Privacy Commission (NPC) on Monday urged parents to improve their digital literacy so that they could protect their children from criminals who are using social media for their illegal deeds.

NPC Complaints and Investigation Division chief Francis Acero said parents can only ensure their children will become responsible social media users if they themselves know its twists and turns.

"Dapat mga magulang mismo yung maging ahead sa digital literacy. Alam nila dapat yung tamang behavior online. Para pagdating sa anak natin matuturo natin, alam natin pag naging aware na sila sa puwede nilang gawin online, magiging responsible residents na sila," Acero said on "Balitanghali."

Acero made the suggestion after a 17-year-old girl was found dead in Cavite after meeting with a man she allegedly met through Facebook. 

Acero said Filipinos tend to easily trust people they met through social media, to the point where they would give sensitive information to them.

"May tendency tayo na magtiwala agad-agad kaya lalong mas nagiging madali sa mga may masasamang balak na gumawa ng kalokohan," Acero said.

He added netizens also rely too much on what they see based on a user's profile pictures.

"We lie and we want to believe what is being told to us. Pag ganon sa social media, makakita lang tayo na may itsura, mukhang disente naman, mas maniniwala tayo," he said.

Meanwhile, Acero urged netizens to refrain from posting too much information such as travel dates and personal information in their profiles.

"Wag kayong maglalagay ng information about yourself, yung mga bagay na ikaw lang dapat nakakaalam... Wag kayong magpo-post na magbabakasyon kayo kasi ibig sabihin walang tao sa bahay," Acero said.

He also encouraged them to use different passwords across different social media platforms, saying the longer the password is, the better.

"Lagi tayong magpapalit ng password, at iba-ibang password per social media account. Tapos pag gagamit ka ng password, hindi siya yung madaling tandaan o pangalan ng mga mahal natin sa buhay. Mas mahaba yung password, mas mahirap siyang i-hack," Acero said. —Joseph Tristan Roxas/KBK, GMA News