Friday, October 08, 2010

(AP)

Eight out of 10 children under the age of two have their pictures online via sites like Facebook, raising privacy and even paedophilia concerns, an Internet security company said on Friday.

A study by Melbourne-based AVG found an average of 81 percent of toddlers in 10 western countries have a digital presence; 92 percent in America, followed by 91 percent in New Zealand and 84 percent in Australia and Canada.

A third of children have their photos online at just a few weeks of age, while a quarter appear on the Web before they are even born in the form of ante-natal scans, the company said.

"It's a sobering thought," said managing director Peter Cameron. "The vast majority of children today have online presence by the time they are two years old -- a presence that will be built on throughout their whole lives..."
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