The Privacy Commissioner says a public opinion survey shows high levels of concern about individual privacy and risks to personal information on the internet.
The survey found that children putting information about themselves online is the privacy issue that causes most concern.
Commissioner Marie Shroff says 88% of respondents said they were concerned about children's internet privacy.
She says anyone who thinks they are able to put information on a private space on the internet is misguided.
Netsafe says parents should not allow children under the age of 13 to be involved in social networking websites like Facebook.
The survey questioned 750 people aged 17 years and over. It has a 3.6% margin of error.
