AUSTRALIAN children’s data is sold everyday for advertising purposes without any legal repercussions.
Veronica Hosking wanted to change this.
Mrs Hosking worked as the general manager of Lookaroo, an Australian owned and operated private search engine that did not track, curate, or sell user’s internet data.
Mrs Hosking said the motivation behind Lookaroo’s design was to support Australian businesses.
“Lookaroo was created to fulfill a niche within the market, as there was no Australian owned search engine,” she said.
Mrs Hosking and her team also realised there was widespread demand for a search engine that did not profit off audience’s private information.
“Big Tech companies like Google collect your data and formulate a profile which is then packaged and sold to advertisers,” she said.
“So, if you search for a pink hat on Google, instantly the search engine knows you are a woman in your early 20s.
“So suddenly you receive targeted advertisements every time you open a browser.”
Many Australian parents were “sadly unaware” of the commodification and curation of their children’s data, Mrs Hosking said.
“I think a lot of parents try to keep track of what their child sees online,” she said.
“They don’t realise that search engines are actually profiling their children.”
SuperAwesome marketing data found online advertising companies collected approximately 72 million data points on the average 13-year-old.
Mrs Hosking argued children’s privacy and personal information should not be a commodity.
“Our children should be off limits,” she said.
“In 30 years’, time, what will be done with the decades of data these companies have on our children?”
Mrs Hosking argued government policies have not “kept up” with society’s increased dependence on technology.
“Big Tech companies essentially operate within huge loopholes”, she said.
Despite existing legislation, Mrs Hosking said there was still “not enough control or regulation of online privacy laws” and called for a comprehensive government review.
Lookaroo have also developed Lookaroo Kids, a private and customised search engine for children aged five to 11.
“We have a team of educators who approved the websites, meaning that children will not be exposed to any inappropriate or inaccurate weblinks,” she said.
“The curated websites are also specific to children’s reading level and there is no advertisements or data tracking.”
Mrs Hosking hoped the program would be launched in schools in 2023 to create a safer environment for children.
“We need to be protecting vulnerable minds, not profiting off them,” she said.
For more information on SuperAwesome’s research on Big Tech data collection please visit https://www.superawesome.com/superawesome-launches-kid-safe-filter-to-prevent-online-ads-from-stealing-childrens-personal-data/
