At first I requested a review copy of The Smart Girl’s Guide to Privacy: Practical Tips for Staying Safe Online because I wanted to see whether it would be helpful for my middle school aged daughters. As I got into the book, I found tips and tricks that were helpful to an internet savvy long-timer like me could use.
The book covers topics like controlling what you share and where, keeping your personally identifying information safe, how to mitigate against data loss and cracked passwords, dealing with harassment as a female, and more. The topics range from middle school appropriate up to things that I wish more adults knew and thought about. I found the text easy to read and the tips intelligent and clear. One caveat for the more squeamish adults considering this book for their kids, read it first and make sure you are comfortable with the author’s discussion of things like dating and sexytime activities. I think the discussions are right in line with and perfect for today’s societal norms, but they may be uncomfortable for the more conservative among us.
The book is a quick read, filled with useful links and information alongside the advice. I am passing it on to my girls and will probably recommend that my son read it as well, when he is a little older.
Disclosure: I was given my copy of this book by the publisher as a review copy. See also: Are All Book Reviews Positive?