While Internet is a great equalizer and a life-changing technology that gives Hispanic families tools to succeed and ways to keep close relationships with loved ones, it can also open the doors to predators and criminals. In January 2012, there were 33.5 million Hispanics online, or a full 15 percent of the total US online market. Compare this to the 2010 U.S. Census that pegs the Hispanic population at 16 percent of the total US population. What’s more, the Hispanic online market is growing three times faster than the general market online. This means new users, who need education and means to protect themselves online.

One-third of U.S. households had experienced a malicious software infection in 2011. Almost 30 percent use their mobile phones without any security precautions, potentially jeopardizing bank information, medical records, and other sensitive data. The risk is higher for new users. Seventy-five percent of Hispanics online are on Facebook, more than the 74 percent of non-Hispanic Americans. The conversation about Internet must start when parents allow their kids to use a computer or smart handheld device for the first time. Even as toddlers. We are giving them specific ways to have those conversations according to age and Internet usage. Age-appropriate Internet Talk Guides, developed by the director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Children’s Hospital Boston Dr. Michael Rich, are available within Comcast’s Constant Guard web site (in Spanish and English) to help families navigate the conversations about safe online behavior at the various developmental stages.