A recent survey of over 3000 young Australians found that one in six had shared their social media or email passwords during the past year.
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Many teens underestimate the risks of sharing passwords and, as adults, this is partly our fault.
We warn our teens about cyber criminals and 'hackers', but teens aren't thinking about this when they give their password to their best friend or romantic interest.
We also talk about passwords in terms of 'trust', which sends some teens the message that the way to show someone you trust them is to give them your password.
Half of teens who've shared their passwords said they shared it with a friend; others shared their passwords with siblings, boyfriends or girlfriends.
Young Australians tend to share passwords with other teens because they want their help with something, or to show them something, or simply because they are friends.
As parents, it's important we remind our teens that even good friends can make mistakes or do silly things, and that keeping your passwords to yourself doesn't mean you're being unfriendly - it means you're being smart.
