One in three children talk or play online with strangers and half say bypassing parental controls is 'easy', the Information Commissioner's Office has warned.
Its online survey of more than 4,000 children aged eight to 17 and their parents found that 36 per cent of youngsters interact with people they only know online – or not at all.
Among 14 to 16-year-olds, this figure rose to 40 per cent, the survey found.
The research, by the UK's data regulator, revealed a 'significant gap' between parents' perception of how much control they had over their children's online activities – and the reality.
It found 52 per cent of children said they were able to bypass age checks for online services, and 31 per cent of parents admitted to having helped their offspring do this.
