Safer digital childhood starts right here.
Our mission is to protect children’s digital footprints. We help families, education providers, and technology vendors make safe, ethical, and human-centred decisions about data, privacy, and digital experiences.
Educational technology has caused radical change across the early childhood and school education sector. It has transformed how providers communicate, record learning, and connect with children and families.
But with it comes a growing and often invisible risk: the creation of lifelong digital footprints for children before they can consent. These footprints may remain for a long time, even after school careers end.
At Safer Footprint, we help parents, education providers, and technology providers navigate these risks with practical guidance, independent advice, and tailored research, putting children’s safety, dignity, and privacy first.
We work for and with the people who co-create a future for every child in Australia to grow up with dignity, safety, and agency in their digital world; from the first photo to the first login.
Parents
We help parents understand and protect their child’s digital footprint from the very beginning. Whether you’re navigating photo-sharing, privacy settings, consent, or understanding how apps use your family’s data, we provide clear, practical guidance you can trust. Our resources, checklists and workshops give you confidence to ask the right questions and make informed decisions.
Protect your child’s digital footprint
Simple guides and checklists
Clear privacy advice and templates
Educators
We support education providers in choosing and using technology safely, responsibly and confidently. From procurement advice and risk assessments to staff training and digital safety reviews, we help providers meet their legal obligations and build trust with families. Our approach is not to add unnecessary complexity or workload; instead, we embed safe digital practices and support.
Tech safety checks for your service
Procurement and platform guidance
Staff training on privacy and data protection
EdTech vendors
We work collaboratively with vendors to lift the standard of digital safety, privacy and user experience across the education sector. Through independent audits, design guidance, and compliance reviews, we help vendors build platforms that are secure, transparent and centred on children’s rights. The result is better products, stronger trust and a safer digital environment for families and educators.
Independent privacy and security audit
API, consent, and data-handling assessments
UX and consent flow review
Check out our latest resources for parents
👣 FAQs
Not sure what we do, or where to start?
Check out the questions and answers below.
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We’re an independent organisation dedicated to improving the safety, privacy and digital experience of education technology apps. We support parents, educators, and technology providers in reducing digital risks and creating safer digital childhoods.
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Educational technology (EdTech) apps are digital tools used by schools and early learning services to support teaching, communication, administration, and children’s learning. They can include platforms for sharing updates with families, managing enrolments and attendance, storing learning records, or delivering interactive educational content.Item description
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Education technology apps are a powerful way for parents to track their children's progress at schools or early learning settings. But these apps create a long-lasting digital footprint of children, with photos, documents, health information, learning notes, and more. These systems often have weak security, unclear consent flows and inconsistent deletion practices. Our job is to help everyone involved do better.
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In most cases, service providers have come to rely on these apps, and full opt-out isn’t realistic. But parents can limit what’s shared, request alternative practices, and control how their child’s data is used. We provide resources to help navigate your options.
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Not at all. We understand the new reality of technology enabling many educational activities. We like to think we’re pro-responsible technology. EdTech has transformed how education providers connect with parents, but we argue such technology needs to be safer, more transparent and more respectful of children’s rights. We help make that happen.
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We don’t act as investigators, but we can help parents understand potential risks, guide providers on next steps, and advise vendors on secure storage and remediation. Drawing on the knowledge and insight we acquire through our day-to-day activities, we raise systemic issues with regulators and policymakers.
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Safer Footprint is only just getting started. For now, head to the contact page to get in touch, and we’ll respond to your query within 2 days.