<h2>Screen On, Screen Off</h2>
In 2018, children are growing up in a world dominated by iPads, iPhones, computer screens, and TVs — and now, new research suggests that it&#8217;s literally affecting their brain structure.
According to a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/groundbreaking-study-examines-effects-of-screen-time-on-kids-60-minutes/">new report</a> on 60 Minutes, a landmark research study conducted by the National Institute of Health (NIH) found that brain scans of some 4,500 children showed &#8220;different patterns&#8221; depending on how much screen time they were exposed to per day.
<h2>Neural Tissue</h2>
The NIH study examined brain scans of 11,000 nine- and ten-year-old children, over a period of ten years, to find out what all that screen time does to children&#8217;s brains.
While the first concrete data is yet to be published — the Institute is hoping for that to happen early next year, according to the interview — researchers have already found patterns in the scans among children who spend more than seven hours of their day glued to screens. Those brain scans show a thinning of the cortex — the outer layer of neural tissue responsible for processing information from each of the five senses.
<h2>Bad Habits</h2>
&#8220;We don&#8217;t know if it&#8217;s being caused by the screen time,&#8221; Gaya Dowling, one of the scientists working on the study, told Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes. She also said that they don&#8217;t &#8220;know yet if it&#8217;s a bad thing,&#8221; pointing out that it&#8217;s too early to draw conclusions from the preliminary data.
Important to note, though: the NIH researchers have found that kids who are exposed for more than two hours to screens scored &#8220;got lower scores on thinking and language tests,&#8221; Dowling said.
<h2>Curbing the Addiction</h2>
One of the aims of the ambitious study is to finally find an answer to the age-old question: are screens addictive?
&#8220;We&#8217;ll be able to see not only how much time are they spending, how they perceive it impacting them, but also what are some of the outcomes,&#8221; Dowling said.
But the team of scientists still have a lot more data to collect before they can give any definitive answers.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/groundbreaking-study-examines-effects-of-screen-time-on-kids-60-minutes/">Groundbreaking Study Examines Effects of Screen Time on Kids</a> [CBS News]
More on screen time: <a href="https://futurism.com/screen-time-smartphone-obsession">I Tried Apple’s Screen Time Tool. The Results Were Not Heartening.</a>

New research: screen time is literally changing children's brains

Bad Habits

A landmark research study at the National Institute of Health is finding that too much screen time is changing the way children's brains are developing.

New Research: Screen Time Is Literally Changing Children’s Brains

But we don't know if that's a bad thing yet.

<h2>Say Cheese</h2>
If you were born before the Facebook era, there&#8217;s a good chance your parents have an album filled with photos of you as a child somewhere in their house. They dust it off when you bring a date over, everyone has a laugh, and then you move on with your life, grateful that you eventually grew into your head.
Not so for later generations. A new <a href="https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/who-knows-what-about-me.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> by the U.K.&#8217;s Children’s Commissioner’s Office (CCO) reveals how the parents of today&#8217;s children spread images and video of them across the internet from the moment they&#8217;re born — and the impact of this &#8220;datafication&#8221; extends far beyond a few embarrassing moments with a new bae.
<h2>So. Many. Photos.</h2>
According to the report, today&#8217;s parents have uploaded an average of 1,300 photos and videos of their children to social media by the time the kid hits their teen years. Add in the media the children themselves post, and the total reaches nearly 70,000 by the time a child is 18.
Why&#8217;s that scary? Because we don&#8217;t know how that data might impact those kids as adults.
&#8220;Could data about a child’s language development and early 4 educational performance at age four play some role in their university application outcomes?&#8221; the authors ask. &#8220;Could personal health data affect their ability to take out insurance in future?&#8221;
<h2>Put Down the Smartphone</h2>
As the COO notes in the report, we need to give serious consideration to the type and quantity of information we share about children online. Then we need to take action to prevent any unintended or detrimental outcomes.
The report&#8217;s authors suggest that we establish government agencies and policies focused on protecting children&#8217;s <a href="https://futurism.com/big-tech-data-privacy-google-apple" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data privacy</a>. They also recommend requiring companies to be more transparent with parents about the data they collect on young people, especially if that data includes photos or videos. Schools should teach kids about data collection to help them make better decisions about what to share online as well.
As Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield writes in the report&#8217;s intro, the issue &#8220;is only going to get bigger — so let’s take action now to understand and control who knows what about our children.&#8221;
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/the-download/612393/parents-have-posted-1300-photos-of-their-children-by-the-time-theyre-13/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Parents Have Posted 1300 Photos of Their Children by the Time They’re 13</a> [MIT Technology Review]
More on online privacy: <a href="https://futurism.com/big-tech-data-privacy-google-apple" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Big Tech Splits Over Privacy Issues, at Least on the Surface</a>

1,300 photos of your kids will be online before they're teens

Picture (Im)Perfect

We need to do more to protect the data privacy of today's young people, who are being "datafied" from the moment they're born.

1,300 Photos of Your Kids Will Be Online Before They’re Teens

Today's children are being "datafied" from the moment they're born.

PEER PRESSURE. &#8220;If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump, too?&#8221; We know, parents, we should say no and not succumb to peer pressure, the influence of a peer group on one&#8217;s attitudes, values, or behaviors.
But it&#8217;s not just humans that parents should worry about influencing their children. Turns out, kids are also <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/jrnls/scirobotics/summaries-08-15-18.php#A" target="_blank" rel="noopener">susceptible to peer pressure</a> from social robots, autonomous bots designed to interact with humans on a social level, according to a team led by Bielefeld University researcher Anna-Lisa Vollmer.
The team published its <a href="http://robotics.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.aat5954" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> on this robot peer pressure Wednesday in the journal Science Robotics.
CONFEDERATES. To understand the impact of robot peer pressure, the researchers conducted a two-part experiment.
For the first part, they divided 60 adult volunteers into three groups. They were all assigned the same task: verbally estimate the length of a target line based on three other lines.
The people in one group were asked to complete the task alone — they served as the control. In the second group, the researchers asked each person to complete the task with three human &#8220;confederates,&#8221; people who seemed like other volunteers but who were really a part of the research team. The volunteers in the last group completed the task along with three robot confederates.
The researchers mixed up the order in which the volunteers and confederates responded, and about two-thirds of the time, the confederates gave the wrong answer to the question. The researchers found that the volunteers&#8217; accuracy was significantly worse when they were in a room with human confederates giving the wrong answers. Robot confederates did not affect the volunteers&#8217; accuracy.
Next, the researchers conducted a version of the experiment with children, this time splitting the 43 volunteers between the ages of 7 and 9 into just two groups. The children in one group served as the control, and the children in the other group completed the task with three robot confederates.
This time, the researchers found that the answers of the robot confederates had a significant influence on the children&#8217;s accuracy. In fact, 74 percent of the time children gave the wrong answer, it was word-for-word the same answer as the robots gave.
BAD NEWS BOTS. This pull that robots have to influence children? It&#8217;s not some future concern. Researchers have already created a number of social robots designed specifically to interact with children, from ones that help <a href="https://futurism.com/qtrobot-therapy-bot-autism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">children with autism</a> develop social skills to ones that interact with <a href="https://futurism.com/videos/this-social-robot-helps-welcome-kids-to-hospitals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">children in hospitals</a>.
While these robots are highly unlikely to encourage children to do anything that might cause them harm on their own, robots are machines, and people can hack machines. It&#8217;s not inconceivable that someone could use a social robot in the future to lure a child into a dangerous situation. Now that we know how susceptible children are to robot peer pressure, we know that it&#8217;s extra important to teach them to think for themselves.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/jrnls/scirobotics/summaries-08-15-18.php#A" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Unlike Adults, Children May Give Into Peer Pressure From Robots</a> [EurekAlert]
More on robots: <a href="https://futurism.com/qtrobot-therapy-bot-autism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Interacting With This Therapy Bot Can Help Children With Autism Perfect Their Social Skills</a>

When a robot gives a wrong answer, a child is likely to repeat it.

Children get pretty easily peer pressured by robots

Robots & Machines

Children are susceptible to robot peer pressure, raising concerns that future bots might be able to influence children in dangerous ways.

Children Get Pretty Easily Peer Pressured By Robots

Children are inclined to follow a robot's lead.

Some of us are just starting to realize all the ways companies like <a href="https://futurism.com/abuse-facebook-data-cambridge/">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/how-much-do-google-and-facebook-profit-from-your-data/">Google</a> use our data to make money. But legally, children are supposed to be exempt from that. Under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA), apps cannot store or track any unnecessary information, such as location data or profiling information for advertisers, on children under the age of 13.
But recent <a href="https://petsymposium.org/2018/files/papers/issue3/popets-2018-0021.pdf">research</a> has identified thousands of apps on the Google Play Store that could be in violation of COPPA, all of which have been certified as COPPA-compliant by Google.
The biggest violation, the researchers argue, often doesn&#8217;t come from app developers themselves — third-party analytics companies are exploiting loopholes without going through the proper channels to report what kind of data they&#8217;re collecting.
Consider, for example, the developer BabyBus, which has produced countless mobile games for kids under the age of six, including &#8220;Baby Panda Care,&#8221; &#8220;Little Panda Restaurant,&#8221; and &#8220;Toilet Training &#8211; Baby&#8217;s Potty.&#8221; BabyBus doesn&#8217;t collect location data through the usual Android permissions system, so it&#8217;s in the clear as far as COPPA is concerned. However, the company had been transmitting lists of saved WiFi networks and access points to TalkingData, an analytics company that BabyBus no longer partners with. It&#8217;s possible that some of these developers might even be sharing information without knowing it, the researchers note, because sometimes they simply don&#8217;t know how many there are (the developers are still legally responsible).
There are steep consequences for companies that violate COPPA — the Federal Trade Commission <a href="http://www.adweek.com/digital/yelp-pays-450000-ftc-fine-coppa-violation/">fined Yelp $450,000</a> for doing so in 2014.
But it&#8217;s surprisingly challenging for regulators to identify rule-breakers. Pretty much the only way to tell whether or not an app illegally stored data was to simply scan through its source code and look for red flags.
It&#8217;s menial and tedious labor. That’s why, for the most part, the industry has relied on self-regulation. But there&#8217;s reason to believe that&#8217;s not working all that well.
To get understand the scope of the problem, the team of computer scientists created software that runs each of 5,855 popular children’s apps for ten minutes, interacting with each app as a typical person might, and keeping track of all of the data that was transmitted or stored in the process.
The team quickly found troubling results: over half the apps they tested violated COPPA in some way and about 2,200 used permanent identifiers that could lead to targeted advertisements.
The researchers didn&#8217;t look at the Apple app store, so the problem could be just as widespread there, too.
The good news? That same tool could be handy for regulators as they work to identify and penalize companies violating the law.
While the researchers point out in their paper that they are not lawyers and can only find possible violations, they’ve also published their tools and data sets so that Google and other regulators can have a go at it.

For some reason, self-regulation didn't fix the problem.

Apps are illegally stealing children's privacy data

Future Society

In the past, regulators had to tediously check developers' code, so they pretty much didn't. Thousands slipped through the cracks.

Apps Are Illegally Stealing Children's Privacy Data

A new tool could help crack down on them.

Apps Are Illegally Stealing Children’s Privacy Data

Parents, tired of explaining crypto to your friends? Now you&#8217;ll have the occasion to explain it to your kids.
New startup &#8220;Pigzbe&#8221; offers a <a href="https://www.pigzbe.com/">&#8220;family-friendly&#8221; cryptocurrency</a> that lets six-year-olds start collecting their own crypto tokens.
The company, founded by Forbes 30-under-30 alum Filippo Yacob, promises &#8220;to teach children the principles of 21st century finance while enabling families as microfinancing networks to operate globally,&#8221; <a href="https://www.pigzbe.com/pdf/pigzbe_whitepaper.pdf">according to its whitepaper</a>.
It hopes to achieve this by creating a blockchain-based &#8220;decentralized network,&#8221; in which parents can &#8220;reward children and help them practice good financial habits&#8221; as they buy and trade tokens called Wollo.
<figure id="attachment_129222" style="width: 759px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img class="wp-image-129222 size-full" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2018/04/game_wallet.png" alt="" width="759" height="513" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Credit: pigzbe</figcaption></figure>
Yeah, we know how this sounds — like the fever dream of a knockoff George Orwell looking to seed children&#8217;s brains with capitalistic inclinations from the earliest possible age. But then again, there&#8217;s a lot about today&#8217;s world that would have seemed pretty dystopian to someone like Orwell. If he knew that we have an always-on, always-connected speaker voluntarily installed in our living rooms, he&#8217;d be rolling over in his grave.
If <a href="https://futurism.com/western-union-ripple-tests/">recent trends</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurencebradford/2018/02/26/how-millennials-are-using-cryptocurrency-to-build-the-future/#228c12905c3a">developments</a> in the crypto-world are to be believed, crypto is the currency of the future, right? So why not get the kiddos used to the idea when they&#8217;re still young, right?
For one thing, Wollo is an actual cryptocurrency — Pigzbe is planning an ICO for it and everything, in June. But it&#8217;s fundamentally different from widespread currencies like Ethereum or Bitcoin because it doesn&#8217;t have the same kinds of <a href="https://bitinfocharts.com/comparison/ethereum-transactionfees.html">high transaction fees</a>. Instead, Pigzbe holds 30 percent of Wollo tokens, and another 14 percent is &#8220;distributed amongst founders and team members,&#8221; <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/8xkdw4/welp-theres-a-cryptocurrency-wallet-for-young-children-now-pigzbe-wollo">Motherboard reports.</a>
So as people buy up more Wollo tokens (there&#8217;s a cap of 675 million Wollo tokens, which will set the exchange rate), the richer the Pigzbe guys will become. Right now, they are likely not all that rich from Wollo, though it&#8217;s pretty much impossible to estimate the value of a single Wollo (unless you&#8217;re an expert) because it&#8217;s so new. But, presumably, the value of kids&#8217; investment will grow if — IF — Wollo tokens become more valuable.
There&#8217;s no question that educating children about the future of our economy is a valiant effort. But maybe — just maybe — lining the crypto-wallets of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur as children learn is not the best way to go about this.
A simple piece of educational software that could simulate a public ledger and made-up cryptocurrency could get us there just as well.
Or, like, maybe go old school and just start with a piggy bank? They can worry about crypto when they&#8217;re older.
Disclosure: Several members of the Futurism team, including the editors of this piece, are personal investors in a number of cryptocurrency markets. Their personal investment perspectives have no impact on editorial content.

The more kids buy Wollo tokens, the richer the Pigzbe folks become.

Give kids a crypto wallet instead of a piggy bank, because it has the word crypto in it

Sci-Fi Visions

There's got to be a better way to teach children about blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.

Give Kids A Crypto Wallet Instead of A Piggy Bank, Because It Has the Word Crypto In It

Pigzbe wants six-year-olds to hoard "Wollo tokens" instead of quarters.

<h2>Aging Out</h2>
When Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook in 2004, the social networking platform&#8217;s target audience was narrow: students at Harvard University. That quickly expanded to include students at other colleges, then high school students, and by 2006, anyone over the age of 13 could register for an account.
Today, Facebook has more than 2 billion users, but while it is growing in favorability with older generations, <a href="https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Instagram-Snapchat-Adoption-Still-Surging-US-UK/1016369" target="_blank" rel="noopener">teens and 20-somethings</a> are signing off in droves. Facebook&#8217;s response? Hook new users before they reach high school. That seems to be the goal behind one of the company&#8217;s latest initiatives, anyways.
<figure style="width: 783px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-123126 size-large aligncenter" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2018/02/Messenger-Kids-1200x708.png" alt="Image Credit: Facebook" width="783" height="380" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Credit: Facebook</figcaption></figure>
On December 4, 2017, Facebook rolled out a preview of <a href="https://messengerkids.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Messenger Kids</a>, a free video chat and messaging app designed for children younger than 13. Kids can&#8217;t add anyone to their contact list without their parent&#8217;s permission, and according to Facebook, all of the content on the app is &#8220;kid-appropriate&#8221; and ad-free.
<a href="https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2017/12/introducing-messenger-kids-a-new-app-for-families-to-connect/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook claimed</a> to have met with dozens of experts in child development, online safety, and children’s media and tech over the course of 18 months to ensure the app would be both fun and safe, but that wasn&#8217;t enough to stop the backlash that soon followed its release.
<h2>Young Blood</h2>
On January 30, 2018, the <a href="http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC)</a> sent Facebook a <a href="http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/sites/default/files/devel-generate/gaw/FBMessengerKids.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> signed by dozens of experts in childhood health, education, and media imploring the company to shut down the app, citing concerns that it would &#8220;undermine children’s healthy development.&#8221;
The letter referenced a number of peer-reviewed studies linking teen and preteen social media use to unhealthy sleep habits, depression, body image issues, and more.
As Josh Golin, the CCFC&#8217;s Executive Director, told Futurism, &#8220;Younger children simply aren’t ready developmentally for social media. An extensive body of research shows that excessive use of social media is harmful to teens, and younger children are even less equipped to deal with its interpersonal challenges and the <a href="https://futurism.com/former-facebook-vp-social-media-destroying-society-hes-right/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">addictive lure</a>.&#8221;
According to Golin, Facebook already has an incredible reach, and allowing the &#8220;master marketer&#8221; to extend that reach to include children could cause irreparable damage.
&#8220;Messenger Kids has the potential to normalize social media use by 6-, 7- and 8-year-olds, and that would be a bad thing,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Moving friendships online displaces the face-to-face interactions crucial for developing empathy and healthy relationships.&#8221;
Golin suggests families wait until children are at least 13 years old before introducing them to social media. &#8220;Developmentally, most kids just aren’t ready before then,&#8221; he told Futurism. &#8220;And the more families hold out on letting their kids use social media, the easier it becomes for other families.&#8221;
<h2>Marching On</h2>
Facebook has yet to publicly respond to the CCFC&#8217;s letter, though the decision to roll out an Android version of Messenger Kids on February 14 could be viewed as <a href="http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/statement-ccfc-facebook-messenger-kids-app-expansion-android" target="_blank" rel="noopener">something of a response</a> in and of itself. That same day, however, the company found itself under attack again, this time for failing to note that it funded the research of many of the experts involved in developing the app.
According to a <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-funds-its-favorite-experts-but-skirts-tough-critics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report by Wired</a>, Facebook donated money to the National PTA, Blue Star Families, the Family Online Safety Institute, MediaSmarts, and a number of other organizations it claimed to consult with while developing Messenger Kids. In total, Wired found that at least seven of the 13 members of Facebook&#8217;s advisory board had some sort of financial tie to the company.
<iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CkMh6xdJNeM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
While these financial connections don&#8217;t automatically discredit the opinions of those experts, the fact that Facebook didn&#8217;t reach out to certain other experts is curious. Golin told Wired the company didn&#8217;t get in touch with him until a few days before launch, and several other well-respected researchers in the field said they didn&#8217;t know about the app until after it launched.
While Antigone Davis, Facebook’s global head of safety, told Wired the company didn&#8217;t attempt to hide the funding connections, they do further muddy the already-murky waters surrounding the safety of Messenger Kids. Social media is a powerful tool, and Facebook currently wields more of that power than any other entity. They have a responsibility to be careful how they use it, especially when it comes to children.

"Messenger Kids has the potential to normalize social media use by 6-, 7- and 8-year-olds, and that would be a bad thing."

Experts want Facebook to take down its Messenger Kids app

As Facebook launches its new app that targets kids under 13, experts caution on the risk of exposing young kids to social media.

Experts Want Facebook to Take Down Its Messenger Kids App

Pediatricians cited a link between social media use and unhappiness among teens.

<h2>Sharenting</h2>
A toddler with birthday cake smeared across his face, grins delightedly at his mother. Minutes later, the image appears on Facebook. A not uncommon scenario – <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/multi-sector-research/cmr/cmr-2017">42% of UK parents share photos of their children online</a> with half of these parents sharing photos at least once a month.
<figure id="attachment_102262" style="width: 800px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-102262" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/09/8118269182_fa302deb22_c.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="497" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Source: mogletho/ Flickr Commons</figcaption></figure>
Welcome to the world of “sharenting” – where more than 80% of children are said to have an <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20101006006722/en/Digital-Birth-Online-World">online presence by the age of two</a>. This is a world where the average parent shares almost 1,500 images of their <a href="https://parentzone.org.uk/article/average-parent-shares-almost-1500-images-their-child-online-their-5th-birthday">child online before their fifth birthday</a>.
But while a recent report from <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/media/media-releases/2017/box-set-britain-tv-online-habits">OFCOM</a> confirms many parents do share images of their children online, the report also indicates that more than half (56%) of parents don’t. Most of these non-sharenting parents (87%) actively choose not to do so to protect their children’s private lives.
<h2>Over Sharing</h2>
Parents often have <a href="http://mottnpch.org/reports-surveys/parents-social-media-likes-and-dislikes-sharenting">good reasons</a> for sharenting. It allows them to find and share parenting advice, to obtain emotional and practical support, and to maintain contact with relatives and friends.
Increasingly, though, concerns are being raised about “<a href="http://mottnpch.org/reports-surveys/parents-social-media-likes-and-dislikes-sharenting">oversharenting</a>” – when parents share too much, or, share inappropriate information. Sharenting can result in the identification of a child’s home, childcare or play location or the disclosure of identifying information which could pose risks to the child.
While many sharenters says they are conscious of the potential impact of their actions, and they <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/media/media-releases/2017/box-set-britain-tv-online-habits">consider their children’s views before sharenting</a>, a recent House of Lords report on the matter suggests not all parents do. The “<a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201617/ldselect/ldcomuni/130/13008.htm#_idTextAnchor052">growing up with the internet</a>” report reveals some parents share information they know will embarrass their children – and some never consider their children’s interests before they post.
A recent <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/38841469">survey for CBBC Newsround</a> also warns that a quarter of children who’ve had their photographs sharented have been embarrassed or worried by these actions.
<h2>Think of the Kids</h2>
Police in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/gendarmerienationale/posts/1046288785435316">France</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Polizei.NRW.HA/posts/474114729427503:0">Germany</a> have taken concrete steps to address sharenting concerns. They have posted Facebook warnings, telling parents of the dangers of sharenting, and stressing the importance of protecting children’s private lives.
Back in the UK, some academics have suggested the government should <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/parenting4digitalfuture/2017/05/17/sharenting-in-whose-interests/">educate parents</a> to ensure they understand the importance of protecting their child’s digital identity. But should the “nanny state” really be interfering in family life by telling parents how and when they can share their children’s information?
It’s clearly a tricky area to regulate, but it could be that the government’s recently published <a href="http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2017-19/dataprotection/documents.html">data protection bill</a> may provide at least a partial answer.
In its 2017 <a href="https://www.conservatives.com/manifesto">manifesto</a>, the Conservative party pledged to:
<blockquote>Give people new rights to ensure they are in control of their own data, including the ability to require major social media platforms to delete information.</blockquote>
In the recent Queen’s Speech, the government confirmed its commitment to reforming data protection law. And in August, it published a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-strengthen-uk-data-protection-law">statement of intent</a> providing more detail of its proposed reforms. In relation to the so-called “right to be forgotten” or “right to erasure”, the government states that:
<blockquote>Individuals will be able to ask for their personal data to be erased.</blockquote>
Users will also be able to ask social media platforms to delete information they posted during their childhood. In certain circumstances, social media companies will be required to delete any or all of a user’s posts. The statement explains:
<blockquote>For example, a post on social media made as a child would normally be deleted upon request, subject to very narrow exemptions.</blockquote>
The primary purpose of the data protection bill is to bring the new EU <a href="http://www.eugdpr/">General Data Protection Regulation</a> into UK law. This is to ensure UK law continues to accord with European data protection law post-Brexit – which is essential if UK companies are to continue to trade with their European counterparts.
It could also provide a solution for children whose parents like to sharent, because the new laws specify that an individual or organisation must obtain explicit consent or have some other legitimate basis to share an individual’s personal data. In real terms, this means that before a parent shares their child’s information online they should ask whether the child agrees.
Of course, this doesn’t mean parents are suddenly going to start asking for their children’s consent to sharent. But if a parent doesn’t obtain their child’s consent, or the child decides in the future that they are no longer happy for that sharented information to be online, the bill also provides another possible solution. Children could use the “right to erasure” to ask for social network providers and other websites to remove sharented information. Not perhaps a perfect answer, but for now it’s one way to put a stop to those embarrassing mugshots ending up in cyberspace for years to come.

The average parent shares almost 1,500 images of their child online before their fifth birthday.

More than 80% of children have an online presence by the age of two

1 year old boy looking a digital tablet in the dark

Welcome to the world of “sharenting” -- a world where the average parent shares almost 1,500 images of their child online before their fifth birthday.

More Than 80% of Children Have an Online Presence by the Age of Two

Welcome to the world of “sharenting.”

<h2>3D-Printed Medical Magic</h2>
Since it was introduced, 3D-printing technology has taken the world by storm. From disrupting <a href="https://futurism.com/images/future-fashion-3d-printed-clothing/" target="_blank">the fashion industry</a> to shaking up<a href="https://futurism.com/this-home-was-3d-printed-in-only-24-hours-and-for-just-10000/"> traditional home construction</a>, 3D printing is fabricating a path for itself into modern society. Even the medical community is warming up to the new technology, as the <a href="https://www.nih.gov/">National Institutes of Health</a> (NIH) has awarded a $211,000 Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant to an engineer at the <a href="http://www.uta.edu/uta/">University of Texas at Arlington</a> to develop 3D-printable materials for developing <a href="http://www.3ders.org//articles/20170406-arlington-bioengineer-awarded-211k-nih-grant-to-develop-3d-printed-blood-vessels-for-children.html">new blood vessels for children.</a>
<figure style="width: 360px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://futurism.com/images/bioprinting-how-3d-printing-is-changing-medicine/"><img src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2015/12/home.jpg" alt="Bioprinting: How 3D Printing is Changing Medicine" ></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text center"><a href="https://futurism.com/images/bioprinting-how-3d-printing-is-changing-medicine/" target="_blank">Click to View Full Infographic</a></figcaption></figure>
Engineer Yi Hong, in partnership with Guohao Dai of <a href="http://www.northeastern.edu/">Northeastern University</a>, is setting his sights on fighting vascular defects in children. Children are more difficult to treat than adults because their bodies grow much quicker than any graft, meaning that these grafts are in need of constant replacement with multiple invasive surgeries.
In light of this problem, the bioengineering duo is attempting to create a range of 3D-printed materials that can be transformed into flexible, patient-specific blood vessels. These materials can then be mixed with human cells to create a fixture among biological blood vessels. Their elasticity could significantly improve the lives of children with vascular defects who currently need multiple invasive surgeries per graft. The printed blood vessels might also reduce the risk of thrombosis compared to that posed by traditional grafts.
<h2>Potential Impact</h2>
There are many types of <a href="http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurology_neurosurgery/centers_clinics/pediatric_neurosurgery/conditions/vascular_abnormalities.html">vascular abnormalities that affect children</a>. Some examples include <a title="What is an aneurysm?" href="http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurology_neurosurgery/centers_clinics/pediatric_neurovascular/conditions/aneurysms.html">aneurysms</a>, which are sacs that can form on arteries in the brain; <a title="What is an arteriovenous malformation (AVM)?" href="http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurology_neurosurgery/centers_clinics/pediatric_neurovascular/conditions/arteriovenous_malformations_avm.html">arteriovenous malformations</a>, which are tangles of thin, easily ruptured vessels in the brain or spinal cord; and <a title="What is Moyamoya disease?" href="http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurology_neurosurgery/centers_clinics/pediatric_neurovascular/conditions/moyamoya_disease.html">moyamoya disease</a>, which blocks blood flow to the brain due to constricted arteries. These conditions can cause symptoms such as headaches, seizures, and even coma. With today&#8217;s therapies, children with vascular defects have it extremely rough — but if Hong&#8217;s project can accomplish its goals, things could get better.
Hong is confident in his project, and his history in raising $850,000 in funds from grants for his past projects further supports that claim. Hong&#8217;s method is ambitious, but his potential success will further solidify 3D printing&#8217;s role in medicine, encouraging other medical scientists to think outside the box while helping improve the quality of people&#8217;s lives.

Flowing bloodcells

Health & Medicine

Scientists are developing flexible materials to 3D print blood vessels for treating vascular defects in children.

A Scientist Is 3D Printing Blood Vessels for Sick Children

His creations could end the need for multiple invasive surgeries.

Robots Are Helping Psychologists Work With Autistic Children

Artificial Intelligence

This incredible augmented reality sandbox lets you and your kids build shapeshifting volcanos and rivers.

/Children

Bad Habits

New Research: Screen Time Is Literally Changing Children’s Brains

Picture (Im)Perfect

1,300 Photos of Your Kids Will Be Online Before They’re Teens

Robots & Machines

Children Get Pretty Easily Peer Pressured By Robots

Future Society

Apps Are Illegally Stealing Children’s Privacy Data

Sci-Fi Visions

Give Kids A Crypto Wallet Instead of A Piggy Bank, Because It Has the Word Crypto In It

Future Society

Experts Want Facebook to Take Down Its Messenger Kids App

Future Society

More Than 80% of Children Have an Online Presence by the Age of Two

Health & Medicine

A Scientist Is 3D Printing Blood Vessels for Sick Children

Artificial Intelligence

Robots Are Helping Psychologists Work With Autistic Children

Virtuality

An Interactive Volcano That Shapeshifts (And Won’t Burn You)

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