Study: Teens, Parents Feel Safe Sharing Info Online. Other Study: Teens, Parents Don't Feel Safe Sharing Info Online

Another day, another Facebook privacy scandal. At this point accusing Facebook of violating its users’ privacy is like accusing the sun of being hot, or of accusing Leo Messi of being good. Why bother? But a study put together by TRUSTe, the “leading Internet privacy services provider,” says that teenagers today, generally speaking, know what they’re doing when it comes to protecting themselves while online. The study’s name is “The Kids Are Alright (PDF),” which totally reminded me of that Offspring song, “The Kids Aren’t Alright.” Wh-oa~!

The study’s big headline is that 80 percent of parents and 78 percent of teens “feel in control of their personal information on social networking sites.” Eighty-four percent of parents “are confident their teen is responsible with personal information on a social networking site.”

So the study, conducted by Lightspeed Research back in June, speaks to confidence, but not necessarily fact.

It’s like, how many parents today think their children are capable of doing anything wrong? “My Little Tommy and Susan are perfect little angels who would never do anything wrong.”

Meanwhile, they’re trolling /b/ with utter nonsense and teasing other kids at school for not having the latest iPhone.

But I digress.

Larry Magid, something of an Internet maverick, rightly points out that the results of this study are directly in opposition to what Zogby said a few days ago. That was, that parents believe share too much information online and that they have no idea how to protect themselves online.

Having spoken to a few security folks in recent months, I’m far more likely to believe the Zogby poll results. The number of people who will click the flashing monkey because they think they’ve won a prize of some sort would make you shake your head. The idea that your average person puts any thought whatsoever into protecting his or her privacy online, well, I find that laughable.