A couple of weeks ago, one of Privacy Solutions' IT folks told me a story that was the inspiration for this article. He mentioned how at the beginning of his significant other's daughter's senior year in high school, he received a call from his insurance company asking him to place her on his policy. This young lady was not at all related to him. He was taken aback. How did they get this information?

Thus began his journey to find out how the personal information of sharing the same residence with a non-related high school senior made its way into the hands of the sales department of an insurance company. He spent literally hours going up the chain of command of the company to find out the source of the information. All along the way, the firm did many things to remedy the situation however even when he spoke with the president, the source was not revealed.

Every form your child fills out during their school career both school specific and from outside vendors, think school photo orders, contains personal information on it. Name, address, phone number, and email address at a minimum. From a data mining perspective, just capturing that amount of information can be considered a potential gold mine. That's because there is a market identified and contactable~ school age children and their parents/guardians.

It is important for each parent/guardian of a school-ager, from elementary school through college, to provide them with ways to protect their privacy while out in the world. It is becoming as critical as not accepting rides from strangers.

Here are a few easy rules to remember:

Rule 1- You have rights. Let your child know that it is a good idea to say NO to requests for information. If someone asks for personal information, the right answer is, '"Let me talk to my parents. If they say it's OK, then I will give you the information you need." Schools, athletic teams and pediatric offices routinely request Social Security Numbers for registration purposes. Before giving that information, always ask if it is this required and by whom. If you do not like the answer, then decline to provide the data. Remember: Social Security cards are not a form of identification.

Rule 2- Always use protection. The best way to protect your child's identity is by teaching them that documents containing their personal information, such as social security cards, bank statements, and passport, should be locked up in a safe place rather than carrying them around everywhere. Maybe this is a good time to get an older child his or her own safety deposit box and to instill a positive lifetime habit.

Rule 2- Guard your devices. I just read the statistic that one in every ten laptops is stolen, and 97% of stolen computers are never recovered- and then there are PDAs and cell phones. Teaching your child to guard their devices is effective most of the time however even the most on-the-ball teenager can get a little disorganized sometimes. If they do have a laptop, there are now tracking devices you can install that will disable the stolen computer the first time it connects to the Internet, kind of like a home alarm system. There are also laptop locks and cables that can deter sticky fingers. New biometric technology offers systems that protect any device by using a fingerprint to allow access. Have your teenager research the technology and see what they come up with within your budget.

Education begins at home in all facets. Privacy and information security are no exceptions. Give your child the advantage of knowing how to stay aware and alert to protecting their personal information and their electronic devices.

Darity Wesley is CEO and Legal Counsel for Privacy Solutions, Inc. a San Diego based consulting firm. Her team of Privacy Gurus® work with you to create policies and procedures to establish the expectation of privacy for your members, clients, customers, prospects, affiliates, associates, employees and vendors. You can reach her at (619)670-9462 or Darity@privacygurus.com