How AI Is Watching Your Kids: What Parents Must Know About Children’s Online Privacy
“Is AI Secretly Tracking Your Children Online?”
I want to ask you something personal. Do you know what data apps are collecting about your child right now — as they read this, play a game, or scroll through TikTok?
Most families don’t. And that’s exactly what the tech industry is counting on.
In 2024, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission released a devastating report finding that major social media and video streaming companies had engaged in “vast surveillance” of users with “lax privacy controls and inadequate safeguards for kids and teens.” The FTC specifically called out the use of AI-powered advertising systems that target children with behavioural manipulation — showing kids exactly the ads, content, and emotional triggers most likely to keep them online and spending.
Meanwhile, 81% of parents of online teens say they are concerned about how much information advertisers can learn about their child’s online behaviour — yet only a fraction understand how AI makes that surveillance more powerful than ever before.
How AI-Powered Tracking Works
When your child uses an app, AI systems are building a profile: what they click on, how long they pause on certain images, what emotions a post triggers, when they’re most likely to make an in-app purchase. This isn’t passive data collection. Modern AI models predict behaviour, create personalised content feeds, and can even detect when a user is sad, lonely, or bored — then serve content designed to deepen that emotional state to increase engagement.
A study from Common Sense Media found that children’s apps routinely share data with third-party advertisers without meaningful parental consent. Dark patterns — interface design tricks that make children accidentally share personal information or agree to terms they don’t understand — are now AI-optimised at scale.
And here’s the thing that should concern every parent of a young child: under COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) in the US, websites are only required to get parental consent for children under 13. But 40% of children ages 8–12 are already active on social media platforms that are legally only for teens. Their data is being collected, and they have none of the legal protections teenagers and adults do.
How AI Is Watching Your Kids – Practical Steps for Families
Start with a privacy audit tonight. Go through every app on your child’s device and check the privacy settings. Look for location sharing — a 2024 Cox Mobile survey found that 56% of parents reported their children’s location sharing was turned on across mobile apps. Second, use a VPN designed for families (like those built into routers) to reduce behavioural tracking. Third, regularly delete cookies and browsing history from your child’s devices. Fourth, talk to your kids about not sharing their real name, school, or location in any app profile.
The OECD’s 2025 report on children in the digital age makes it clear: privacy literacy is now as essential as reading literacy. The earlier we build it, the safer our families will be.
Book Recommendation: Privacy Is Power by Carissa Véliz (2021)
Oxford professor Carissa Véliz makes a compelling case in her book, Privacy is Power, for why data privacy is a human rights issue, written in clear, accessible language any parent can absorb.
1. What data do apps collect from my child?”
Apps commonly collect location data, browsing habits, in-app behaviour, emotional response patterns, microphone access, contact lists, and purchase history. AI systems then analyse this data to build detailed profiles used for targeted advertising and personalised content.
2. How can I stop AI from tracking my child online?
Review and restrict app permissions, turn off location sharing, use a family VPN, regularly clear cookies and browsing history, and check each app’s privacy settings. Talk to your child about not sharing personal details in any profile or chat.
3. Are children’s apps required to protect privacy?
In the US, COPPA requires parental consent for data collection from children under 13. However, enforcement has been limited, and many apps that children use fall outside this protection. The EU’s GDPR and the UK’s Age Appropriate Design Code offer stronger protections.