Codemoji Teaches Kids about Encryption

Do your kids love emojis? Mine do. In fact, given the chance they would sit all day writing daddy messages using my WhatsApp JUST using emojis! They think it's funny and engages them in conversation.

Well Mozilla, has just used that emotion to make an app to help kids understand encryption using emojis. Codemoji allows you to send an enrypted message to your friend using a cipher which works with emojis.

It's very simple, use the web app to write a message, then scramble it using the emoji cipher. You need to select an emoji as your "key" so your friend can unscramble your message. Remember to also send your friend a hint of what emoji to select as the key to decypher the message. Your friend will receive an emoji only message from you, encrypted with your secret message.

• Try it for yourself here: Codemoji

My cyber-security-obsessed teen probably would not be impressed with the level of security this app provides, so please don't use it to send super sensitive information.  However it introduces the idea of encrypted messages and how they work.

Encryption is an important part of keeping the web safe for all to enjoy. Mozilla wants to educate and make every day internet users aware of it: Encryption Advocacy

As a parent of a digital native, it is important to talk to our children about using the internet in a way that is safe for everyone and respects other people's information. Encryption is a good thing and so we believe it is important to teach our kids about it!

**If you're interested to have a look at the unicode character set which includes the emojis.