← ACARA Digital Technologies Years 5–6

Choosing a safe username

A username that does not show your full name, birthday, school or address. Use a nickname, leave out your birth year, and never use your passphrase as your username.

Part of: ACARA Digital Technologies Years 5–6 — Staying Safe Online — Module 30, ACARA Digital Technologies Years 5–6 — Digital Footprints — Module 28

Understanding Choosing a safe username in ACARA Digital Technologies Years 5–6

What it does: BlueKoala7 is a nickname, so it keeps your real name private. The username and the passphrase are totally different, so knowing one does not help someone guess the other. A birth date or birth year in a username tells strangers about you. SpeedyPanda gives nothing away. Liam2013Smith has a full name and a birth year. CoolFox_Gamer uses a nickname instead. 14WattleSt is part of a street address. A safe username never includes where you live. A nickname lets you join online without telling everyone who you really are. SkyRunner42 is a made-up nickname, so it gives away no personal details.

Common mistakes: A safe username never shows your address. Line 2 should use a nickname like "BlueFox" instead of the address. Line 1 uses a full name. A safe username uses a made-up nickname such as "SkyTiger" instead.

Class: _____________________ · Name: _____________________ · Date: _________

Free printable worksheet with full answer key — or add this module to a class and your students practise it interactively.

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This module's key terms are also in a printable crossword (Modules 157–173) and word search (Modules 137–225).

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Each concept is reinforced from every angle — learned, then applied, then tested.

Learning

Duo

Which username is safer to use?

BlueKoala42EmmaJones_Year6

Matches

Username: Liam_Smith_Year6_Hillview_PS

↓

It shows a full name and the name of your school, so a stranger could work out where to find you.

Applying

Meanings

Term

safe username

Meaning

A username that does not show your full name, birthday, school or address. Use a nickname, leave out your birth year, and never use your passphrase as your username.

Practice

username <- "BlueKite42"

Testing

Gaps

username ←

Check Answer

Spots

1address = "12 Park Street"

2username = address

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Quick Questions

1. Which username is safer to use?

A. BlueKoala42 ✓

B. EmmaJones_Year6

BlueKoala42 is a nickname and does not show a full name or school year. EmmaJones_Year6 shows a full name and your year level.

2. Which username keeps your birthday private?

A. Sam_12May2014

B. SpeedyPanda ✓

A birth date or birth year in a username tells strangers about you. SpeedyPanda gives nothing away.

3. Which one should NOT be in a safe username?

A. The name of your school ✓

B. A made-up nickname

Your school name tells people where to find you. A made-up nickname is a good choice.

4. True or false: Using your passphrase as your username is a safe idea.

A. True

B. False ✓

A username can often be seen by other people. Your passphrase must stay secret, and it must be different from your username.

5. Which username is safer?

A. CoolFox_Gamer ✓

B. Liam2013Smith

Liam2013Smith has a full name and a birth year. CoolFox_Gamer uses a nickname instead.

Match the Pairs

Username: SkyRunner42 → A safe username: a nickname that does not show your full name, birthday, school or address

Username: Mia_Chen_2013 → An unsafe username: it shows a full name and a birth year

Use a nickname instead of your real name → Username: BlueKoala7

Your username must be different from your passphrase → Username: StarHopper9 / Passphrase: purple-tractor-melon-sings

Username: Liam_Smith_Year6_Hillview_PS → It shows a full name and the name of your school, so a stranger could work out where to find you.

Username: purple-tractor-melon-sings → The username is the same as the passphrase, so anyone who sees the username also knows the secret passphrase.

Key Term

safe username

A username that does not show your full name, birthday, school or address. Use a nickname, leave out your birth year, and never use your passphrase as your username.

Fill in the Blanks

1. nickname ← "StarKicker" username ← nickname

Hint: Type the variable name that holds the made-up name, not your real one.

2. fullName ← "Ava Nguyen" IF username = fullName THEN SAY "Unsafe username"

Hint: Type the variable that holds your real first and last name.

3. IF username CONTAINS birthYear THEN SAY "Remove the number"

Hint: Type the variable for the year you were born, which a safe username leaves out.

4. IF username = passphrase THEN SAY "Never do this!"

Hint: Type the variable for the secret phrase that must never be your username.

5. username ← "StarKicker" safe ← username ≠ passphrase SAY safe

Hint: Type the operator that checks two things are not equal.

Spot the Error

Question 1

A address = "12 Park Street"

B username = address

C print("Username:", username)

Line B — A safe username never shows your address. Line 2 should use a nickname like "BlueFox" instead of the address.

Question 2

A nickname = "SamuelJamesCarter"

B username = nickname

C print("My username is", username)

Line A — Line 1 uses a full name. A safe username uses a made-up nickname such as "SkyTiger" instead.

Question 3

A username = "CoolCat2013"

B safe = "2013" not in username

C print("Safe?", safe)

Line A — The username has a birth year (2013) in it, which gives away personal information. It should leave the year out: "CoolCat".

Question 4

A nickname = "MoonOwl"

B school = "Ridge Primary"

C username = school

D print("Username:", username)

Line C — A safe username must not include your school. Line 3 should set username to the nickname.

Question 5

A def is_safe(name):

B return "Ridge" in name

C print(is_safe("RedKite"))

Line B — The check is the wrong way round. A safe username must NOT contain the school name, so it should say not in.

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