It's interesting that Daily Beast writer Caitlin Dixon precedes her question "When did we let our guard down?" with the story of sleeping on strangers' couch in Italy after finding them in a couch-surfing site. Yes, she let her guard down (but the people were great hosts). What's interesting, though, is that she compared couch-surfing to connecting with people online. One could argue – and I've … [Read more...] about So we’ve all ‘let our guard down’?
Privacy
PS4, gaming & the new privacy reality
One thing we all need to teach our kids now is that the privacy spectrum we really need to be aware of isn't so much private-to-public as private-to-convenient – or, from kids' perspective, private-to-social (or just to-spontaneous-&-fun). The more convenience we want (e.g., not bothering with password-protecting our phones or giving services all kinds of access to our movements so they can … [Read more...] about PS4, gaming & the new privacy reality
FTC on mobile privacy: Now offering ‘guidance-plus’
The overall message from the Federal Trade Commission to mobile app developers has moved from guidance to what I'd call guidance+. The guidance appears to be growing teeth. The commission, which enforces COPPA (the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act), reached a settlement with Path, a social network site and mobile app that agreed to pay an $800,000 penalty in response to the FTC's charges … [Read more...] about FTC on mobile privacy: Now offering ‘guidance-plus’
What the Net privacy big picture has to do with parenting
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
Instagram’s user-terms update
If Instagram's as popular among high school students in your community as it is at ours, you'll probably be interested in the implications of its latest privacy updates. When it announced that it was updating its Terms of Use and the New York Times noticed the update included the addition of advertising, a lot of users (and reporters) apparently got the idea that Instagram would be using users' … [Read more...] about Instagram’s user-terms update