A joint study by Microsoft Canada Co. and Ipsos Reid has some startling findings for parents: of the 1,000 children between the ages of 10 and 14 that were interviewed, 70% said they believed that any personal information they put online and invited friends to view was private. Further, 37% of girls and 22% of boys in the same age group said they’d sent a photo of themselves to someone online. To help put the word out and educate kids and parents about the dangers of the Internet, Microsoft and Ipsos Reid, together with the Kids Internet Safety Alliance, kicked off a cross-country speaking tour in Calgary on February 7. The tour will also make stops in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal over the next two months. The survey also found that 85% of kids surveyed with access to the Internet inside the home also had other means of accessing it away from parents’ supervision, and 15% of respondents said they’d been to websites they knew were off-limits.

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