Friday, January 16, 2009
Final report of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force
Internet Safety Technical Task Force Releases Final Report on Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies
January 14, 2009
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University today released the final report of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, a group of 29 leading Internet businesses, non-profit organizations, academics, and technology companies that joined together for a year-long investigation of tools and technologies to create a safer environment on the Internet for youth.
The Task Force was created in February 2008 in accordance with the Joint Statement on Key Principles of Social Networking Safety announced in January 2008 by the Attorneys General Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking and MySpace. The report was delivered to the 52 Attorneys General in December, 2008.
To read the final report, including the executive summary, as well as reaction statements from members of the Task Force, visit:
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The Associated Press: Panel: Technology alone can't protect kids online
Panel: Technology alone can't protect kids online
By ANICK JESDANUN – 1 day ago
NEW YORK (AP) — A task force charged with assessing technologies for protecting children from unwanted contact online has concluded that no single approach is foolproof and that parental oversight is vital.
The Harvard-led panel, in a report obtained by The Associated Press and scheduled for release Wednesday, dismissed prospects for age-verification technologies, the approach favored by many law-enforcement officials who had pushed for the creation of the task force.
The yearlong Internet Safety Technical Task Force also played down fears of Internet sexual predators who target children on social-networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. While citing other dangers such as online bullying, the panel said cases of predators typically involved youths well aware they were meeting an adult for sexual activities.
Technology can be a component in the strategy to protect minors online, but Internet companies "should not overly rely upon any single technology or group of technologies as the primary solution," the task force said.
"Parents, teachers, mentors, social services, law enforcement and minors themselves all have crucial roles to play in ensuring online safety for all minors," the report said.
The findings come as little surprise as law enforcement, Internet companies, child-safety advocates and policy makers seek to address fears of Internet sexual predators.
Rather, the report serves to synthesize what many researchers and child-safety advocates have been saying. The report also identifies areas in which more studies are needed — on what sex offenders do at social-networking sites, and how minors are approached sexually by other minors.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, one of the leading forces behind the task force's creation, criticized the report for relying on "outdated and inadequate" research to downplay the threat of predators. Blumenthal said the task force should have made more specific recommendations for implementing and improving technologies.
"The report is a step forward, but it has to be followed by other steps," Blumenthal said in an interview.
Parry Aftab, a child-safety advocate with task-force member WiredSafety.org, said the group produced a report that essentially "we could have done without spending a year. We could have said there isn't enough research out there."
But she said she agreed with its conclusions: Kids are typically at risk because they put themselves at risk rather than because they are tricked, and technology isn't enough to address that.
The task force was headed by Internet scholars at Harvard University and grew out of an agreement MySpace reached with most state attorneys general a year ago. Members of the panel include Internet service companies and nonprofit groups, including those focused on children's safety.
The panel's recommendations are nonbinding.
John Palfrey, the Harvard law professor who served as task force chairman, said the panel had no funding for new research and saw its role as synthesizing the disparate studies already conducted.
The task force recommended that companies develop best practices and, before implementing any technology, consider how well it addresses actual risks minors face online and whether it infringes on users' privacy and other rights.
Hemanshu Nigam, chief security officer at News Corp.'s MySpace, welcomed the task force's findings and said it "identifies key areas on which industry can focus efforts to increase online safety."
Companies that make age-verification technologies were among the leading critics on the task force.
Aristotle International Inc. said in a statement that the task force shifted from its mandate to focus on identity-authentication tools.
"The report is unfocused and addresses far too many non-SNS (social-networking site), non-technical issues," Aristotle said. "Many recommendations are generic, obvious and redundant."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iTlgXwjK7neNbdq0KfczHNBYFXnQD95MI3IO1
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Cyberbullying Package
Dear Educators,
CyberSmart! is extraordinarily pleased to announce the release of our CyberSmart! Cyberbullying Package, a positive and empowering suite of K-12 lessons.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Parental controls in Vista
Parental controls in Vista
7/5/2008
Controlling your children’s computer time is important. They can get in trouble if left on their own. The Internet is full of adult material. And downloading files, as kids are apt to do, can be dangerous. You can end up with a malware-infected computer.
It’s a serious concern for parents. I should know. I get a lot of questions on this topic. Parents want to know the best way to protect their kids. Do they need to buy software? Should they just lock the computer in a closet?
Well, there are many tools to help you out. One of the simplest is on Windows Vista computers. Vista's parental controls allow you to monitor and protect your children.
Their own account
First, your children need a separate user account. You can have an account for all your children. Or each child can have an individual account. Begin by clicking Start>>Control Panel. Check the left panel to be sure you're in Classic View. Double-click User Accounts. Then, click “manage another account”>>”create new account.”
Give the new account a name. Be sure the Standard User button is selected. Click Create Account.
Read more:
Read this before giving kids an iPod touch
Read this before giving kids an iPod touch
11/1/2008
The latest and greatest music players make great gifts. I’ve been getting mail from parents on just that topic. While shopping around, they’re realizing just how full-featured these players are. And that’s raising concerns for some.
The most popular choice is, of course, the iPod. And the top-of-the-line version is the iPod touch. The touch isn’t just a music player. It can do a whole lot more. That includes video and Web surfing. That makes it a full-featured multimedia player.
Inevitably, when you combine video and Web surfing, along comes pornography. This makes some parents hesitant to get one for their kids.
The iPod touch does have built-in parental controls. The parental controls can’t recognize and block adult content. Instead, you turn off specific features like the Safari Web browser. (All of these controls are also in the iPhone)
On the touch, tap Settings>>General>>Restrictions. Next, tap Enable Restrictions and enter a four-digit code. This will let you lock the settings. Now, you’ll have several features you can switch off. These are Explicit iPod Content, Safari, YouTube, iTunes and Installing Apps.
When you switch off content or features, they remain on the touch. They’re simply hidden and unusable. For example, iTunes tags some content as Explicit. Restricting this content makes it invisible on the touch.
If you want to block porn, restrict Safari and YouTube. Restricting Safari closes a lot of doors. Kids won’t be able to access online porn. YouTube is a separate application, so you must restrict it as well. Theoretically, YouTube does not allow porn on its site. But the site struggles to take down inappropriate content. It’s not hard to find adult videos.
Read more:
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Tech Parenting Discussion
"Is it smart or sneaky for parents to have accounts on Facebook or
MySpace to monitor their children's behavior?" "I won't let my teenager
on Facebook or MySpace. Is that a mistake? Should I?" "Of the social
networks, which do you consider to be the most safe, and which do you
consider to be least safe?" Those are just a few of dozens of questions
from parents around the US my ConnectSafely.org co-director Larry Magid
and I (Anne Collier) enjoyed answering in a one-hour, live online
discussion at the Washington Post last week. It's now archived at the
Post's Web site
http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/05/trendmicro.htm