OTTAWA–Canada’s privacy watchdog is launching a campaign aimed at raising grade schoolers’ awareness about how their personal data is collected and used on their devices and apps.

Almost all Canadian youth aged 15 to 24 access the internet on a daily basis, according to recent Statistics Canada figures. A 2015 study by non-profit group MediaSmarts found three quarters of school-aged children in Canada have some a social media account or blog.

Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien’s office says their campaign will target students in 8,500 elementary schools across Canada, part of a larger push to teach children how to guard their online reputation and safely use their electronic devices.

“They know the beast better (than older Canadians), but they still need to be even more aware of the potential consequences of how they use this technology,” Therrien said in an interview with the Star Tuesday.

“For one thing, they have a better grasp of what privacy settings are being used, so that’s good … (But) kids will also perhaps be more daring, or will think less of the consequences, by posting photographs in certain social settings that may haunt them later.”

Part of Therrien’s challenge is the possibility that younger Canadians may have a very different idea of what constitutes “privacy” online. The MediaSmarts study, which looked at online behaviour in among more than 5,000 Canadian students between grades 4 and 11, suggests younger Canadians don’t think of privacy as nondisclosure — for instance, not posting photos. It suggests instead they want to tightly control who can view their posts.

The study found that while students felt comfortable posting photos, videos and their thoughts online, an overwhelming majority opposed the kind of passive collection and retention of information these sites depend on for their business model.

“From this perspective, posting something online is not the same thing as consenting to its collection,” the report stated. “Contrary to the business model behind the websites they enjoy, 83 per cent of the students we surveyed told us that the corporation that owns the site should not be able to see what they post there and 95 per cent felt that marketers should not have access to it either.”

Canadian law also puts restrictions on how private companies can collect and use Canadians’ personal information. The law does not distinguish between adults and children, but Therrien’s office has long held children’s data should be treated as exceptionally sensitive.

In 2017, Therrien’s office recommended that companies require parents’ consent before collecting information from children under the age of 13.

His office is also pushing provincial education ministers to make online privacy part of the regular curriculum in grade schools.

“It stands to reason, children will live with technology for all their life. They need to understand it not only as workers but also as citizens,” Therrien said.

“And that’s the push, to make sure that provinces who are responsible for the education of children make this part of the curriculum.”

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