It's no wonder parents and schools aren't sure where their policies start and stop when it comes to online interaction among young people who could be in any home, any school, any community or even country. Governments – whether local, state, or national – aren't sure either. More than ever, "jurisdiction" and "regulation," whether a family's or a national government's, is no longer either/or, no … [Read more...] about What the Net privacy big picture has to do with parenting
Privacy
The new, revised COPPA
The US Federal Trade Commission's revisions to the COPPA Rule announced today (12/19/12), are aimed at syncing up a rule mandated by a 1998 law with today's technology and with "the way children use the Internet, mobile devices and social networking," the FTC says in its press release. For example, the personal information that services cannot collect from children under 13 without parental … [Read more...] about The new, revised COPPA
Facebook’s latest privacy changes are fixes
Facebook's announcement about its latest privacy tweaks this week was a bit of a non-story. The site has been steadily improving users' experience with privacy controls, making settings less complex and more on-the-spot, or as-you-post over several iterations. This week's was just another such iteration. For example, a helpful little "privacy shortcut" that will shortly be in the top-right corner … [Read more...] about Facebook’s latest privacy changes are fixes
FTC still not satisfied with kid app privacy
Only 20% of the 400 children’s apps the FTC analyzed "provided disclosures about their data collection practices," the New York Times reported today – and the apps that did linked to long, dense privacy policies that few users could comprehend. The Federal Trade Commission's announcement does not surprise; it's an update of the Commission's report last February (see this). But it says "little or … [Read more...] about FTC still not satisfied with kid app privacy
COPPA has likely increased minors’ risk: Study
If there were no Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, teens would be safer in social media, a new study from researchers at New York University indicates (pdf). Without COPPA, children under 13 would have little to no reason to lie about their age to set up a Facebook account, for example (this would be true of any COPPA-compliant site U13s want to join). We all know that, right? We also … [Read more...] about COPPA has likely increased minors’ risk: Study