Today is National Child Day – also the 20^th anniversary of the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention of the Rights of the Child and made privacy a basic human right for everyone under the age of eighteen.

This means that privacy is your right. And with today’s world being so different than it was 20 years ago, this is something you may not think much about. Today, you are videotaped by security cameras almost everywhere you go. You are asked for your postal code or driver’s license when you buy a pair of jeans. You can instant message, update your status, download music, talk to friends on Facebook and play games on your computer with people all around the world. Twenty years ago if someone wanted to get in touch with you they had to phone you or send you a postcard!

Today, it is so easy to forget about privacy and why it’s important. And it’s easy to forget about the risks that are out there if you don’t protect your personal information. These risks can range from nuisance (all those marketers who are looking for people to target their ads to) to serious (from the people on the Internet who are looking for identities to steal, to the predators looking for victims). It’s also easy to forget that when you post comments, photos and videos, online, that information is public and permanent and almost impossible to remove.

So today, on National Child Day, we wanted to remind you that privacy is your right. And today is your day. So take some time to look around youthprivacy.ca. Click through the pages and find out how you can have fun online while protecting this valuable basic human right.

Do you need help remembering to think before you click? Many of you spend lots of time online – playing games on the Internet, surfing around, chatting with friends. When you’re doing this it’s easy to forget that there are others out there looking for your personal information, and that nothing on the Internet is truly private. Once your information is out there it can be used, shared – and possibly abused – in countless different ways.

That’s why we’ve created a cool sticker sheet that will help you remember to think before you click! Each sheet has six stickers, in different shapes and sizes, so you can stick fun reminders on all your electronic devices, like iPods, laptops, etc. The stickers are easy to peel off and reposition. If you’d like a sheet of these stickers send us an e-mail.

Also, we recently launched our 2009 My Privacy & Me National Video competition for youth! We had an incredible response last year and we’re gearing up to do it all again!