Check out these games and materials for promoting data protection awareness in children and young people

Games and quizzes can improve understanding of data protection

Many games and quizzes about data protection have been developed to aid learning. Gamifying learning can inspire children and young people to explore a subject that can seem hard to grasp by just reading written materials.

For example, the Danish data protection authority has released the Data Challenge game for young people. It features three quizzes on personal data, personal data processing and data protection rights and gives user feedback on their answers. Some of the questions are based on imaginary cases, including some related to hobby and leisure activities. The game is accompanied by materials for teachers, instructing on using the site in teaching. The Data Challenge game is available in English and Danish.

In Finland, Sitra has developed a digital profile test based on a self-assessment, which generates a digital profile of the individual’s online behaviour and attitudes. Many of the questions deal with the respondent’s attitude to the sharing and processing of their personal data on the internet. Sitra has also published an analysis of the digital profile test’s results. According to the analysis, people under 19 in Finland are not very aware of data collection, use and sale by service providers. Based on the results, young people trust service providers the most and protect their data the least compared to other age groups. In other words, there is still lots of work to be done in improving the data protection skills of children and young people!

Study materials created in joint projects

In addition to educational games and quizzes, there is a multitude of handbooks and more extensive material sets available online. The Norwegian Directorate for Education and The Norwegian Data Protection Authority have created the Du bestemmer website for young people, containing educational content related to, e.g., privacy, bullying and cyber security. The Finnish National Agency for Education has produced Sinä päätät (You decide) materials in Finnish based on this website.

The GDPR4CHLDRN project is funded by the European Union’s Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme. Certain other projects focusing on improving understanding of data protection among children and young people are also being funded from the same programme. For example, the byDefault project (2022—2024) coordinated by the Greek data protection authority improves awareness of data protection and privacy among, e.g., children, young people and teachers. The project will also publish materials to support learning.

The Safer Internet Centre (SIC), which seeks to promote media literacy and children’s safety and well-being, operates in many countries, including Finland. These centres form an international network that organises the Safer Internet Day every year. Publications and study materials by the network’s members have been collected on the Safer Internet Day website, and the materials can be filtered by topic, target audience and language.

_{Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.}