Advertising settings

Everything we do online can leave a little digital footprint. Children often don’t realise that companies can collect and use their personal information to build a profile about them and shape the adverts they see online.​

Data collection could:

• expose your child to adverts promoting harmful behaviours such as misleading nutrition advice or lifestyle choices that are inappropriate for them; 
• open the door to intrusive marketing notifications designed to promote products; 
• encourage your child to spend money through in-app purchases or paid upgrades; and 
• result in your child’s personal information being shared with lots of third parties, reducing their ability to control how their data is used. 

Can I manage advertising settings?​

Most apps, websites or mobile games have advertising, cookies or marketing settings in their ‘Settings’ or ‘Account’ menu.  

These settings control whether:

• apps can collect your child’s personal information and track their activity across platforms and websites;​
• their personal information is shared with other advertisers; and​
• advertisers can target your child based on their interests, demographics, behaviour, or app usage patterns.​

Encourage your child to be on the lookout for requests about ‘personalised’ or ‘targeted’ advertising, cookies or marketing when they access a new app, website or mobile game. On Apple devices, there’s also a system-level ‘Tracking’ setting, and Android devices have an ‘Opt out of ads personalisation’.