CyberSafe: Privacy Prodigy

The digital world is central to how young people play, learn, and build relationships. Common Sense Media reported that 92% of teens in the United States go online daily, and 24% of teens say they are online "almost constantly." These statistics highlight the importance of teaching children about digital literacy, as technology and the internet play an increasingly important role in daily life. It is crucial for children to learn how to use technology safely, responsibly, and effectively.

That’s why it’s increasingly important to know what kinds of personal information they can safely share with the people around them and what they should keep to themselves.

Xbox and Minecraft are committed to helping young people obtain the online privacy skills they need to keep their data safe as they navigate the internet. We take a multi-faceted approach to safety, privacy, and community health that focuses on empowering educators, parents, children, and caregivers with the tools and education to have safer gaming experiences for the whole family. We also believe in the power of gaming to build knowledge, community, and digital citizenship. To learn more about Xbox, Trust and Safety team read this year’s Safer Internet Day Wire.

To help young people learn these crucial skills, Minecraft Education has created the next chapter in the CyberSafe series: Privacy Prodigy! This game-based learning experience helps players identify their personal data, determine with whom they can share their data, and explore ways to safeguard their sensitive personal data.

Privacy Prodigy is designed for young people aged 7-18. It’s available free for both Minecraft Education and in the Marketplace.

This single-player experience introduces young people to the concept of areas of trust. They’ll develop the ability to identify the different types of information they need to manage and what they can share. Players will also learn strategies for protecting their personal data and ways to mitigate any issues that arise from compromised information.

Embedding these critical behaviors in a fun and engaging game-based learning environment is a powerful way to reach young people.

The game starts with a tutorial introducing players to four different color-coded areas of trust. Just like in the previous CyberSafe game Home Sweet Hmm, they’ll meet a trusted adult who guides them through the experience and provides support when they’re unsure of what to do next.

Players will explore the four areas representing the different circles of trust in their community, from immediate family to public places. In each area, the personal information relevant to that area comes alive as cute and careless data bytes who desperately need protection.

• First up is the home, featuring most young people’s top tier of trust: their family and trusted adults. This is where their most sensitive data bytes like passwords and phone passcodes should stay.
• Players move on to the second area, which includes reliable authority figures like teachers, doctors, and coaches. They can trust this circle with data like their student ID, grades, or medical records.
• Next up, learners will progress to a wider circle, their real-life friends and extended family members. It’s alright for these people to know information like their home address, phone number, email address, personal photos, or current location.
• Finally, players will encounter data bytes in public places, where safeguarding personal data is most important. In this area, they’ll learn different strategies for safely using their private data in public places, such as a restaurant, library, park, and more.

Once the challenge section of the game starts, the goal is for players to earn the status of Privacy Prodigy. Players start as Privacy Scouts, earning tickets and leveling up through different ranks, by battling data breaches and safeguarding data bytes. Players must keep data from falling victim to dangerous breaches.  As a further challenge, data bytes will roam freely within their proper area of trust—and the player needs to keep data safe in its proper area.

Data bytes can wind up in the wrong zone in many different ways. They might wander through a gate left open by a careless child or get launched into an unsafe area by a spring trap. If a data byte lingers outside its area of trust for too long, it becomes vulnerable to a data attack.

Equipped with a map to help them locate their data bytes, players need to rescue lost data and send them back to safety. If they don’t make it in time, the data will become compromised.

As players try to protect their data bytes as long as possible, they’ll learn to stay vigilant about their online data and build real-world knowledge about cyber safety. Once reaching the top rank of Privacy Prodigy, players can replay for faster times and high scores.

And when they’re finished, they can download a CyberSafe certificate to share what they’ve learned.

Share Privacy Prodigy with a young person in your school, family, or community today.

• Minecraft Education users can find the Privacy Prodigy world in the in-game lesson library.
• Minecraft Bedrock players can download the world from the Education Collection in the Minecraft Marketplace.
• Educators and facilitators can access further resources, including a lesson guide and materials to help lead the experience on this lesson page.
• Families can utilize the Privacy Prodigy family toolkit and check out additional family-friendly resources on our Xbox Family Hub, a one-stop shop for information about Xbox safety and privacy.
• If you haven’t tried the first game in the CyberSafe series, Home Sweet Hmm, try it today.

Privacy doesn’t stop at Minecraft. You can also download the free Xbox Family Settings app to access simple tools that help you manage your family’s console gaming. The Microsoft Family Safety app gives you the power to protect the ones you love with digital and physical safety features.

Learn how we’re empowering players to get exactly what they want from their social gaming experience and foster a healthy community using text chat filters. Finally, we encourage you to review the results of our most recent research survey, Global Online Safety Survey 2023: Parents’ and kids’ perceptions of online safety to understand global trends in internet safety and risk.

Gaming presents a powerful way to reach young people with information that can keep them secure as they realize the full potential of the digital world they call home. By equipping them with the internet safety skills they need, we can work toward a better internet and a safer world for everyone.

Our players are our passion. Together we can ensure they’re safe, happy, and empowered to play.