Children And P2P Systems

What are Internet 'peer-to-peer systems' or 'P2P'?

A peer to peer system is usually where people are sharing files with each other. So you have someone who is allowed to look at your hard drive or certain files on your hard drive and you can share files on their hard drives.

Is there any harm in using an Internet P2P systems?

Peer to peer systems can be harmful because you're going to be swapping files with someone that could contain objectionable content or viruses. They can also have spyware on them, and they can have adware on them. You're allowing somebody to take digital information from their system and put it on yours. You're also allowing them on your hard drive, so if you happen to have personal information that you don't want people to have, they may be able to gain access to it, such things as bank account information, passwords and other things like that. So there is a way to work with peer to peer systems in a secure way, but it is important to know that it is a bit dangerous for your computer system.

What safety precautions can my child take while using a P2P system?

I don't really recommend that kids use peer-to-peer networks to begin with. If they do, you are going to have to know which peers they are file sharing with, and what kind of files they are sharing. The best way to do that is to sit down with them at their computer system and take a look.