Half of UK parents believe they know less about the internet than their offspring do, according to research.

They are also setting up fewer online controls on their children’s use of the internet, with 37 per cent doing so last year compared to 43 per cent in 2009.

Meanwhile, the research, from media regulator Ofcom, found that around a third (34 per cent) of children aged eight to 12 who use the internet at home have a social network profile on sites such as Facebook, Bebo or Myspace, which requires users to register as being 13 or over.

Ofcom discovered that half (48 per cent) of parents of children aged between five and 15 and 70 per cent of parents of 12- to 15-year-olds think their children know more about going online than they do.

Its latest research discovered that 54 per cent of children aged eight to 15 who use the internet at home have a social networking profile – the same percentage as adults.

Around one-fifth (18 per cent) of five- to 15-year-olds own a smartphone, and 41 per cent of 12- to 15-year-olds access the internet in their bedroom.

Nearly one-third (32 per cent) of 12- to 15-year-olds who use a social networking site say they speak to people they do not really know on the site.

Some 22 per cent of 12- to 15-year-olds who use the internet at home would be happy to share their e-mail address online, prompting Ofcom to warn that “these levels of comfort in sharing personal data among young people could mean that they are not evaluating the potential risks”.

The research also found that 56 per cent of people are now using the internet to find out more about an illness.

Ofcom’s adult media literacy report surveyed 2,117 adults aged 16 and over and the children’s literacy report surveyed 2,071 children aged five to 15 and their parents.