The Dangers of Sharenting: Kaspersky Research Reveals Digital Security Gap Among Parents
The phenomenon of ‘sharenting’—the habit of parents sharing photos, videos, and details of their children’s lives on social media—is now under serious scrutiny. A recent study titled “Small Shares, Big Risks: How Parents Assess Threats and Cope with Sharing of Children’s Data” reveals a worrying trend: the more frequently parents upload content featuring their children, the lower their motivation to implement digital security measures.
This joint study, conducted by Kaspersky and the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), highlights parental behaviour across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region and Egypt. The results indicate a clear ‘behavioural gap’, where high exposure of children’s data is not accompanied by adequate privacy protection.
Associate Professor Jiow Hee Jhee from SIT explained that a consistent pattern was found in this research. As the frequency of information sharing increases, the intention to adopt protective measures actually decreases. This is exacerbated by the perception that privacy settings are a cumbersome process.
Trishia Octaviano, Senior Security Education Manager at Kaspersky APAC, noted that humans instinctively prioritise convenience and immediate rewards. “In the digital world, this means we are reluctant to change application settings because they are perceived to require extra effort,” she stated.
Interestingly, the majority of parents (over 80%) feel confident in their ability to manage information to prevent widespread dissemination. However, 72% of respondents still feel vulnerable to hacking despite having adjusted their privacy settings. This indicates an awareness of risks that has not yet been followed by consistent preventive action.
The survey involved 152 parent respondents with children aged 0-12 from various countries, including Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Egypt. Data was collected between October 2025 and February 2026 through online questionnaires and face-to-face workshops.