Glossary

The glossary explains the terms that appear across the guides, from parental-control features to the slang and scam names parents encounter second-hand. Definitions are written for someone who has just met the word in a school newsletter or a message from their child, so each says what the thing is and why it matters for a family rather than offering a technical description.

Plain-English definitions of the terms you’ll run into when reading about kids’ online safety.

CSAM

Child sexual abuse material. Illegal in virtually every jurisdiction. Report to CyberTipline.

COPPA

The US Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Requires services to get verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from kids under 13.

KOSA

Kids Online Safety Act (US, proposed/enacted in various forms). Adds a duty of care for platforms to mitigate harms to minors.

Finsta

“Fake Instagram” — a secondary, semi-private Instagram account kids use among close friends. Often the account parents don’t know about.

Sextortion

Coercion using real or fabricated sexual images. Increasingly AI-generated. Report to law enforcement; use NCMEC Take It Down.

Grooming

A process by which an adult builds trust with a minor to sexually exploit them. Can happen over months inside games and DMs.

Doxxing

Publishing someone’s personal information (address, school, phone) without consent, typically to harass.

Sideloading

Installing apps from outside the official app store. Common on Android; riskier from a security standpoint.

V-Bucks / Robux

In-game currency in Fortnite and Roblox. Common targets of phishing scams targeting kids.

Deepfake

AI-generated image or video that convincingly imitates a real person. Increasingly used for non-consensual sexual imagery involving minors.

DNS filtering

Blocking certain categories of websites at the network level. Services like NextDNS, Cloudflare Families, OpenDNS FamilyShield.

MDM

Mobile Device Management. What schools use to control school-issued devices. Sometimes conflicts with parental controls.

Screen Time (Apple)

Apple’s built-in parental controls on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Family Link (Google)

Google’s supervised-account and parental-control system for Android and Chromebook.

2-step verification (2SV / 2FA)

Requiring a second proof of identity (code, app, key) in addition to a password. The single most effective defense against account hijack.

Snap Maps

Snapchat’s map feature that shows friends’ real-time locations unless “Ghost Mode” is on.

In-app purchase

Buying things inside an app. A common source of accidental charges — require a password or disable entirely.

Loot box

Randomized in-game rewards paid for with real money. Considered gambling-adjacent in many jurisdictions.

Omegle-style app

Apps that randomly pair strangers for video or text chat. Routinely host adult content encountered by minors.

CyberTipline

The US reporting line for online child exploitation, operated by NCMEC: report.cybertip.org.