  The age of children adopting digital technologies, such as tablets or
smartphones, is increasingly young. However, children under 11 are often
regarded as too young to comprehend the concept of online privacy. Limited
research studies have focused on children of this age group. In the summer of
2018, we conducted 12 focus group studies with 29 children aged 6-10 from
Oxfordshire primary schools. Our research has shown that children have a good
understanding of certain privacy risks, such as information oversharing or
avoiding revealing real identities online. They could use a range of
descriptions to articulate the risks and describe their risk coping strategies.
However, at the same time, we identified that children had less awareness
concerning other risks, such as online tracking or game promotions.
  Inspired by Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), this study has
identified critical knowledge gaps in children's understanding of online
privacy, and several directions for future education and technology
development. We call for attention to the needs of raising children's awareness
and understanding of risks related to online recommendations and data tracking,
which are becoming ever more prevalent in the games and content children
encounter. We also call for attention to children's use of language to describe
risks, which may be appropriate but not necessarily indicate a full
understanding of the threats.
