My Data: Whose Is It and Who Sees It?
Ages 10–13: ask who sees your data before allowing access. Fictional offline simulation and a parent guide.
For parents: one-page guide.
01Remember
Think back to IB-12 and IB-10, then open the answers.
In IB-12 a message asks you to do something. What can you do before tapping?
Pause and ask a grown-up.
In IB-10 you choose what to show about yourself. Does everyone need to see everything?
I can choose a smaller audience.
What question helps when the audience is unclear?
“Who will see this?”
02Story
Imagine a made-up app called “Paper Garden”. You arrange flowers from ready-made shapes. There are no real profiles or people. Today you will help a fictional child decide what to share.
The app suggests: “Show a photo of your drawing in the shared gallery.” The child is ready to tap, then notices a camera request. “I want to show my flower, but who will see the photo?”
In our story, the notice says: “Every visitor can see the gallery.” The child looks at the drawing: beside the flower is a note they do not want to show. They leave the camera off and choose a ready-made shape. They can still make the garden.
More suggestions appear: location for a background and contacts for invitations. The child does not give one big yes to everything. For each request they ask: “Why is this needed? Who will see it?” For contacts, they decide to ask a parent.
The parent does not rush to tap for them. Together they read the fictional explanation and discuss another way to make the garden. The child finishes: “Information about me is mine to look after. Before giving it, I can pause and ask.”
03Worked example
The fictional gallery is open to every visitor. The camera is suggested for photographing a drawing. Do I need it? No, I can choose a ready-made flower. Who will see the photo? In this story, every visitor if I share it. I choose “Not now”. Camera access and showing a photo are separate questions: I ask about both.
04Try it now
This is a made-up permissions game. It does not turn on your camera, find your location or read contacts. You type nothing; choices are neither saved nor sent.
1 · Predict
Predict: which request seems necessary for arranging ready-made flowers? Explain why before choosing.
2 · Run
3 · Change
Change: choose a different answer to the same request. How does the “who sees it” picture change? Then compare the other requests. These are rules of this fictional game only; a real app may have different settings. If anything is unclear, pause before allowing it and ask a grown-up.
05No screen
Draw paper circles labelled “me”, “family”, “class”, “everyone”. Draw an imaginary flower with no name or personal notes. Place it in the circle for the people you want to show it to. Explain why. Move it to another circle and discuss what changes. Do not post it online.
06Make your own
Choose aloud or write on paper one sentence: “Before I give data, I ask: ...” Finish with “who will see it?”, “why is it needed?” or your own words. Show a parent and explain your choice. You enter no text on this page.
07What I learned
- Information about me is mine to look after. Before giving it, I ask who will see it.
- For each request I check whether I need it.
- I can say “not now” and ask a grown-up.
If something scares you, tell a grown-up you trust.
1. What do I ask before sharing?
2. Contacts are not needed for ready-made flowers. What can you choose?
3. You do not understand the explanation. What can you do?
Yours when you can explain who could see the data and why you chose to allow, wait or ask. No points or rankings.
08I have a question
Do you still have a question? Write it here. It goes to your parent, not to strangers. Your parent confirms their e-mail first.
The form is loading… If it does not appear, write your question on paper and show it to a parent or teacher.
·Sources
- Title: My Data: Whose Is It and Who Sees It? (DB-IB-13) · Author: Children’s Library, East Accelerator Foundation · Source: original text, simulation and drawings, 2026 · Rights: CC BY-SA 4.0.
- S1 · European Commission · Data protection explained · Personal data definition; facts paraphrased, source rights retained. All app behaviour is fictional.
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Children's Library, East Accelerator Foundation, 2026. You may share and adapt this lesson if you credit the author and keep the same licence. Learning is free forever.