BBB Tip of the Week

Back to school is time for shopping for clothes and school supplies and getting back on a regular sleep schedule. It is also the time to be vigilant about protecting your child’s information.

Forms can seem to arrive almost daily for sports team sign-ups, the school directory, proof of immunizations, scholarships and so on. Be sure to stop and consider the information you are providing.

Better Business Bureau offers the following tips to help protect children’s information, whether they are enrolled in preschool, college or any grade in between.

Don’t carry your child’s Social Security card with you. When a school or organization requests an SSN, question why it is needed and how it will be protected. Whenever possible, ask that an alternate identifier be used.

Make sure kids use strong passwords for their mobile and computing devices.

Help kids limit their online sharing. Remind them not to post their name, address or birth date on social media. You can find useful tools to teach kids online safety at the Onguard Online Net Cetera webpage at http://1.usa.gov/1DPKmhF.

Use GPS wisely. You can locate your kids through GPS and so can others. Share the importance of not using GPS to broadcast their location with the world.

Keep all paper documentation with your child’s personal information in a safe location. Before disposing, be sure to shred it, preferably with a cross shredder. Add a cross shredder to the list of supplies for college-goers to prevent discarded credit card offers from falling into the wrong hands.

Periodically check that no credit report exists for children. By checking at around 16 years of age, you have enough time before adulthood to repair damage if the identity has been stolen.

Get to know the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which protects the privacy of student records. Under FERPA, schools are required to notify parents and guardians about school directory policies, and you have the right to opt out of releasing directory information to third parties.

To learn more about child identity theft, visit http://www. consumer.ftc.gov/articles/ 0040-child-identity-theft.

If you see a scam targeting children, report it to BBB at www.bbb.org/eastern-washington or by calling (509) 455-4200.

Erin Dodge, BBB editor