Village Gamer

Media Awareness Network (MNet) has launched Privacy Pirates, a new interactive resource to teach children about online privacy and how to distinguish between public and private information when playing on the Internet. The game was unveiled today by MNet’s Director of Education Matthew Johnson at the Prince Edward Island Teachers’ Federation Conference in Charlottetown.

“For the most part, the Internet is an unregulated universe where users are constantly prodded for information regardless of their age; and children often lack the skills to understand how to protect their privacy on the sites they visit,” said Mr. Johnson. “Privacy Pirates explores the different scenarios kids encounter online and helps them understand what information is appropriate to give out and what information is better kept private.”

In the game, children attempt to assemble a map leading to pirate treasure — introducing the concept that their information has value. Along the way, players encounter a variety of situations in which they are asked to give up information. Making the correct choice – based on the type of information they’re being asked to give, and the context in which they are being asked – is rewarded with an additional piece of the treasure map.

Privacy Pirates was developed with financial support from Google. It is part of MNet’s extensive suite of digital literacy games, which are freely available on its website.