SNAPCHAT, Instagram and Facebook know more about what your children are doing than their parents. That’s the alarming warning by online privacy experts who claim social media services are collecting a worrying wealth of information on your kids

A report by Best VPN, a website that offers advice on how to stay safe online, warns that parents have to become more aware of how their children’s data may be being used – and what they may be revealing.

Among the dangers flagged up is the fact that just by opening the Snapchat app, children may be broadcasting their whereabouts to other people. This has led to fears over privacy, stalking and even abuse, if the location information falls into the wrong hands.

According to privacy expert Douglas Crawford, Snapchat – which is hugely popular with those of high school age – is particularly problematic because of its location function.

“Snapchat offers everyone on the user’s friends list their location when they open the app,” says Crawford in the report. “The dangers here are numerous, especially for teens who could be unwittingly broadcasting their whereabouts to people they don’t know well.”

Instagram, also popular among the young, has similar issues attached to it. Crawford adds: “Instagram has a similar feature to Snapchat that allows users to add their images to a map. While users don’t have to use the ‘Add to Photo Map’ function, Instagram still tags images, giving away the user’s location. Users can disable this function in the privacy settings. The platform provider also tracks web browsing habits in order to sell to third parties.”

But, of all the platforms analysed, Facebook came out worst on their social media privacy index. Though less popular with children and teenagers, it presents more privacy threats. “Facebook could be the riskiest platform to use if you’re worried about the privacy of a child using the service,” writes Crawford. “The company has a broad copyright license that allows them to sell your profile data, including your images, to third parties, in addition to recording sounds and video without your consent.”

Ray Walsh, also a privacy expert at Best VPN, advises that parents should be very active in maintaining strict oversight of their children’s online activities. “Privacy settings should be set to their maximum strength, and parents should talk to their children about why this is important. Fake profiles, as well as strangers, pose an immense risk to children’s safety. They also expose the devices that they use to possible penetration by hackers.”