Back in 2005, a friend in Massachusetts referred to his daughters' constant instant messaging (remember that?!) as "a window into their lives that I wouldn't have otherwise. [My daughter] leaves her computer on a table beside my desk, and I get to watch a bunch of this stuff happening. Sort of like me working while she and a friend talk right inside her open bedroom door while I am working on the … [Read more...] about Peering thoughtfully through this window into our kids’ lives
Privacy
The ‘minimum age’ & other unintended consequences of COPPA
It's tough to be the FTC – or anyone else trying to make rules for user-driven (social) media. It's hard enough to make static rules address fast-changing technology. Then there's the problem of changing understanding of consumers – the intended beneficiaries of the rules and the users of user-driven media – as we all adjust to having the data that represents so much of our everyday lives in a … [Read more...] about The ‘minimum age’ & other unintended consequences of COPPA
FTC finds kid apps’ privacy practices ‘disAPPointing’
The US Federal Trade Commission has turned this week's wakeup call about mobile-app privacy into a conference call, adding kids' privacy to the conversation. The title of its just-released report "Mobile Apps for Kids: Current Privacy Disclosures are Disappointing" (that's the FTC authors' cute italicization) summarizes the Commission's conclusions well. But to make their point crystal clear, the … [Read more...] about FTC finds kid apps’ privacy practices ‘disAPPointing’
Teens flocking to Twitter for privacy?
Now that so many parents are on Facebook, teens are defying predictions and adding Twitter to their social toolboxes, according to an article at MSNBC. The number of teens using Twitter has doubled in the past two years, to 16% of 12-to-17-year-olds last July (the latest data available), the article cites the Pew Internet & American Life Project as finding. "Teens tout the ease of use and the … [Read more...] about Teens flocking to Twitter for privacy?
NEW! The 2012 edition of ‘A Parents’ Guide to Facebook’
I am pleased to announce that we at ConnectSafely.org have just released the 2012 edition of our Parents' Guide to Facebook. It's already being translated into Arabic and Spanish. Since Release 1.0 of the Guide a little over a year ago (this one is a full 2.0), Facebook has made a lot of changes – including Timeline (the page formerly known as "profile"), more and more "in-line privacy controls" … [Read more...] about NEW! The 2012 edition of ‘A Parents’ Guide to Facebook’