If children are known to keep their online activities from their parents, Kaspersky’s latest survey reveals that the act is mutual. The cybersecurity solutions firm found that parents in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region also want to keep their data private from their kids… more than cybercriminals.

The report titled “Defending digital privacy: taking personal protection to the next level,” conducted in the first two months of 2020, asked respondents the question: Whom are you afraid of seeing or having access to your private information? “From children” garnered the highest percentage with 10.3%, followed by partner or spouse (9.9%), and parents (9.1%).

“Ironically, online users in APAC are more concerned about having their blood relatives or relationship partners seeing or accessing their private data online way more than malicious actors,” Stephan Neumeier, managing director for Asia Pacific at Kaspersky. “In fact, our survey showed cybercriminals is their least concern with only 3.1%.”

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To better understand the psychology behind the survey results, Dr. Joel Yang, clinical psychologist of Mind what Matters in Singapore noted that the statistics can be viewed through a cultural lens given that the region is largely constituted with more collectivistic societies.

“Collectivistic attitudes typically encourage the ‘correctness of social relationships’ and such ideals emphasize hierarchy in family structure,” said Yang. “It is key to the social harmony that each member understands and plays their role. In the family unit, this means that children are expected to show respect to their parents without question. This perpetuates the behavior of parents not disclosing any private matters to children which may bring any question to the authority of the parent.”

Another research from Kaspersky reveals that parents care about their kids’ online safety but spend less time to educate their kids about online security. More than half (58%) of the surveyed respondents admitted speaking to their children about the subject for less than 30 minutes.

To help families protect children from various internet threats, Kaspersky recommends:

• Establish open communication about online activities.
• As parents, you should also be transparent about your missteps online, if you have any. This way, your child will know that you are in this together.
• If you know what your child is looking for online, you can offer help and support, but use the information carefully.
• Discuss with your child how much time they can spend on social media. Try to persuade your child not to use social media during school lessons or at night.
• Try not to limit your child’s social circle, but tell them to take care when choosing friends and acquaintances.

Subscribe to the Family edition of our Kaspersky Security Cloud. The service incorporates Kaspersky Safe Kids and helps to guard your family and private data, plus protect your kids online and beyond.