If you are planning to start your Christmas shopping early and make the most of black friday and cyber Monday, it’s important to make sure that you secure your payment details on your device if you share it with your child.
Five tips to keep your payment details protected this Christmas
Create a password for in-app purchases and change your settings so that you are always prompted to enter your password every time you make a purchase. Keep your passwords secret and change them regularly.
Avoid passwords your child will be able to guess. Even if your payment details are saved on Google Play or the App Store, it will still prompt you to enter your password before you confirm a purchase.
Ensure payment methods are not stored in your browser and opt for password protected payment methods on websites you use regularly for purchases. Don’t opt to ‘save’ your password on our device or to never prompt you for your password again.
Set up parental controls that will restrict your child’s access to certain apps at certain times and stop them from accessing the store.
When using iTunes or the app store, you can purchase vouchers for your account instead of having a credit/debit card linked to it, so you can’t automatically purchase a service.
Have honest and frank conversations with your children about what they’re getting up to online. Explore their favourite apps with them and find out if any of them have ‘in-app’ purchasing. Talk to them about what their favourite games include and explain how moving to the next level or accessing cheats may cost money.
And if the worst happens…
If your child manages to spend money on apps and games or on a shopping site, you should contact Apple, Android, or the company that runs the store you use immediately. They are used to hearing about these kinds of problems, and will probably be willing to help you.
more info
If you’d like more information about how to set parental controls on a range of platforms and devices, see our broad range of step-by-step parental control guides.
General tips to set up share device safety for kids
See our step-by-step guide to see how to set these controls on major broadband and network platforms
Ensure they are only able to download age-appropriate apps by setting a restriction on your device based on age ratings of apps. See how here.
Use YouTube Safety Mode controls so they don’t see any inappropriate content, see our step by step guide. Alternatively, YouTube Kids app is available which may be a safer option for younger children.
Set up password control for in-app purchasing, or disable it all together if you feel that would be safer. See Apple app store or Google play store guide for support.
Make your browser homepage kid-friendly by using a child-friendly search engine so they don’t stumble across something you wouldn’t want them to see – here are some options. Alternatively, make sure you have Google SafeSearch switched.
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