December 2007 Archives
It's getting down to the wire for your holiday shopping and if you're buying gifts online, I want to remind you to shop safely. It's relatively easy to take a few steps to protect your financial information and make sure you pay for the gifts you actually ordered. Here are a couple of tips:
• When shopping online, make sure you have your computer in a safe, private location. You don't want others to be able to view your screen. Make sure you lock or turn-off your computer when you leave your desk.
• Use a major credit card for your online purchases; most cards will protect you from online fraud. Also, try to charge all your purchases on the same credit card - it is easier to just check one bill to make sure it's accurate.
• Watch for any pop-ups or other e-mails that ask for personal account information. E-mails that appear to be sent from your bank asking for personal account information such as your account number, password or Social Security number are likely the work of a scam artist. Do not respond.
• Important tip: When you shop online, there's a quick way to make sure your credit card information is secure. The URL in the address window will change from http:// to either https:// or shttp:// (an "s" either before or after the http) when you enter your information on the screen.
For more information on staying safe online, check out the Federal Trade Commission's site. Some companies offer advice and tools as well. Check out the Smart Limits service from AT&T.
At last week's FOSI conference, I served as moderator for the panel, "What the Research is Telling Us." After delivering brief introductory remarks, I introduced the speakers: Amanda Lenhart (Senior Research Specialist, Pew Internet and American Life Project) and Sonia Livingstone (Professor of Social Psychology in the Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science). They presented the statistics regarding online predators, cyber bullying, and inappropriate content and contacts online. I followed their presentations with a question regarding Internet user's awareness of the lack of privacy for their personal information and photos online, particularly on social networks.
I believe the research information presented by these two experts is so important for anyone working on online safety. We need to understand what kids are experiencing online before we can determine the best way to protect them.
Both of their presentations are now available online:
I want to take a moment to call attention to several excellent resources from last week's FOSI conference. The day was packed with great speakers, workshops, and presentations, all of which were extremely valuable. Topics included trends, the role of government regulation, and international policy.
In coming posts, I'll focus more on a few of these topics, including research and the role of education, but I encourage anyone interested in the latest online safety information to review the following resources:
FOSI's Annual State of Online Safety Report
Media Creativity and the Public Good by the Aspen Institute
A blog post from Google's Chief Internet Evangelist on the company's role in keeping kids safe online
Last week I had the pleasure of participating in the first annual conference of the Family Online Safety Institute, "Rights and Responsibility: Child Protection in a Web 2.0 World." Stephen Balkam, FOSI's CEO, opened the conference, by discussing the "new culture of responsibility," a theme which continued throughout much of the day.
What does this mean? Simply put, as the Internet has confronted us with a new medium - one that is highly dynamic and unlike any we've seen before - and parents, teachers, policy makers, and others must work together in order to achieve the highest degree of online safety for our families. Even if parents lack a complete understanding of Web 2.0 tools, they still hold responsibility for instilling safe online practices in their children. One speaker referred to a "Web 2.0 approach based on educational resources; not fear."
Stephen Balkam is quite impressive and did a superb job of organizing the program. I want to congratule Stephen and the FOSI staff and Board for an excellent first annual online safety conferences. I expect there will be many more FOSI events, which is good news for the online safety community.
I will have more to post later this week about the conference.
For the past ten years, I have worked on communications issues, representing the interests of consumers in the marketplace, and working to promote policies that address the evolving communications world.
The changing marketplace has always presented challenges to consumers. However, with today's explosion of Web 2.0 applications - from online shopping, to social networking sites, to the millions of blogs that seem to have been created overnight - consumers confront new issues and obstacles. While the Internet provides unlimited opportunities for communications and information applications, it also brings a growing need for easily accessible guidance and clear information. This blog will attempt to help consumers navigate some of the more challenging Web 2.0 issues.
As an advocate for consumer interests, and as a parent, no issue is more pressing than that of online safety. It is my intent that this blog become a tool and resource for parents, teachers, educators, community leaders, lawmakers, and other interested parties, to learn more about the challenges of evolving technologies- and most importantly -find solutions.
Welcome to my blog.
