The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) regulator says that new research shows that three in four parents fear that their kids are unable to make safe online privacy choices.
An ICO survey found that 35 per cent of parents think that their child would "share personal information in exchange for game tokens or rewards".
The survey of 1,000 UK parents with children aged between four and 11 found that 22 per cent of kids have shared personal details such as health data with AI tools and 24 per cent have shared their real name and address online, with eight and nine-year-olds at the most significant risk.
The regulator has launched a campaign to help parents of children aged four to 11 "start simple conversations about protecting their personal information online".
Online privacy includes information such as a child's age, name and residence, but also less obvious information like their browsing history, purchases, photos, voice notes and social media or gaming activity".
Parents have been warned by the ICO to treat their child's online privacy as a vital life skill that is "as natural as teaching a child to cross the road".
The regulator warns that just a single click could "unveil friendships, interests, moods and even sleep patterns, creating a digital footprint that can last forever - or even be exploited by people with bad intentions".
ICO deputy commissioner Emily Keaney says that "many families have never been shown how to talk to their children about online privacy" and that the topic "requires a whole society approach".
She said: "The internet offers amazing opportunities for children – but every click can leave a hidden data trail and these digital footprints can last forever.
"We wouldn’t expect our children to share their birthdays or address with a stranger in a shop, because we’d explain stranger danger to them from a very young age, but kids these days are growing up online.
"We know that where children’s details, like their name, interests and pictures, aren’t protected, the potential risks are serious: unwanted contact from strangers, grooming and radicalisation."
