Group items tagged

Justin, Demi, Selena, Rihanna - and COPPA By Lesley Fair October 4, 2012 - 1:29pm It's not likely we'll succumb to Bieber Fever.  We're of a generation more susceptible to the Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu.  But a company that ran official fan websites for pop stars may be feeling the effects of an FTC law enforcement action alleging violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act and COPPA Rule. The defendant, Artist Arena, operated authorized sites for Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, and the mononymous recording artist Rihanna.  (It is, too, a word.  Ask Cher or Fabio.)  Visitors to BieberFever.com, DemiLovatoFanClub.net, SelenaGomez.com, or RihannaNow.com could join fan clubs and subscribe to online newsletters.  Fan club members also had access to social networking functions, like creating personal profiles, posting on walls, or "friending" other members.  Of course, to take advantage of those features, people had to provide personal information. The details of the registration process varied depending on the site, so you'll want to read the complaint for the specifics.  But the 25-words-or-less summary is that Artist Arena allegedly collected kids' names, addresses, email addresses, birthdates, gender and other info without properly notifying parents and getting their consent.  According to the complaint, the company violated COPPA by knowingly registering over 25,000 kids under 13 and collected and maintained personal information from almost 75,000 other kids under 13 who started the sign-up process, but didn't finish it. What about Artist Arena's promises that it wouldn't collect children's personal information or activate kids' registrations without parental consent?  The FTC challenged those claims as false. The settlement imposes a $1 million civil penalty, bars future COPPA violations, and requires the company  to delete the information collected illegally. Looking for specifics on COPPA compliance?  Visit the BCP Business Center's Children's Privacy page.  

11 Ways to Stay Safe Online & Protect Your Privacy By Nerissa Sardi on September 1, 2009 2:25 PM | No TrackBacks Nearly everyone is using the internet these days to find information or connect with others. But surfing the web can still sometimes feel like the Wild West. Despite technological advances to help reduce the risk of identity theft, becoming the victim of an internet scam or having your privacy invaded is a persistent threat. And, as a number of recent incidents involving social networking websites have shown us, it can even be fatal Keeping your guard up is essential to avoid trouble on the internet. Here are eleven tips from FindLaw.com to help you stay safe online: 1. Be careful who you give your information Avoid giving out personal information such as your name, address, telephone number or other personal information on websites until read and understand their privacy policy. For example, be on guard for online promotions or contests in which you may be asked to provide details about yourself. This information could be used to market to you in the future. Never give out your Social Security number or passwords online, unless you are certain the site is secure. 2. Know you're being watched Be careful of the e-mails you send and the websites you visit while at work. In most U.S. states, employees are exempt from protection by employers who may be monitoring e-mails and internet use while on the job. 3. Don't reply to spamEver get one of those strange, unexpected e-mails for real estate, weight loss, work-at-home or investment opportunities? Your best bet is to delete those e-mails without opening them. Never reply to these e-mails, even to request they remove your name from their lists. Replying will alert the sender that your e-mail is a "live" e-mail attached to an actual person.  4. Use secured websites Before you purchase a product or service online with a credit card, make sure the connection is secure or encrypted. Look for a small lock icon on the website, or look at the URL address line; a secure connection will begin with https:// ("s" for secured) instead of http:// 5. Beware of public wireless accessDon't send personal or confidential information when using public wireless connections in cafes and other public places. Fellow wireless users could potentially monitor what you are doing only a few feet away. 6. Think before you post Avoid revealing personal information or photos on websites such as Facebook, MySpace or SecondLife. Personal or embarrassing information and images can haunt you in years to come like when you are applying for college or a new job. If it's on the internet, it's available for a potential employer, your school, a future or current spouse, your mother or grandmother to find it. 7. Don't trust your friends A number of recent incidents involving "sexting" demonstrate, sending photos of yourself in the nude or in compromising positions could not only be extremely embarrassing when a partner or ex-partner starts to share those photos with his or her friends, but it also could be illegal. 8. Beware of classified listing meet-upsWhen using websites such as Craigslist or Freelist to buy or exchange goods locally, always bring someone you trust with you to meet the seller/buyer. Be cautious about letting strangers into your home or meeting in unsafe places 9. Watch your cookies Cookies are tidbits of information that websites store on your computer. Some cookies are useful, such as those that store information about you so you don't have to retype info every time you go to that site. Other cookies are used to track your motions through a website. Some companies keep this data for their own usages - however, some sell your information to other marketers. You can monitor and edit the cookies on your computer through your browser. 10. Use anti-spyware Spyware is sneaky software that rides its way onto computers during the download of screensavers, games, music and other applications. Spyware sends information about what you're doing on the internet to a third-party, usually to target you with pop-up ads. Anti-spyware will help block this threat. 11. Monitor your kids' internet useMove computers out of the bedroom and into family space where parents and others can check on your child's internet use by simply walking by. Set specific times that your child may surf the web, and set rules about social media websites, such as Facebook, My Space and Twitter.

Passwords are the first line of defense against cyber criminals. It’s important to pick strong passwords that are different for each of your important accounts and to change them regularly. Here are some ideas to help create strong passwords. Use a unique password for all your important accounts. Use unique passwords for your accounts, especially important accounts like email and online banking. You are likely to have dozens of accounts across the web, and you cannot guarantee the security of all of them. Criminals target sites that lack strong security, in order to harvest usernames and passwords that they test against other popular sites. When you use the same password across the web, a cyber criminal can learn the password from a less secure site and then use that password to compromise your important accounts. Use a long password The longer your password is, the harder it is to guess. There are almost one quintillion possible 10-character passwords (that’s 4,000 times as many possibilities as if your password only has eight characters) … and that’s if you only use numbers and letters. Use a password with a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols Using numbers, symbols and mixed-case letters in your password increases the difficulty of guessing or cracking your password. For example, there are more than 6 quadrillion possible variations for an eight-character password with numbers, symbols, and mixed-case letters – 30,000 times more variations than an eight-character password with only lowercase letters. Try using a line from a song, film or play Some passwords are easy to guess or crack: Simple words or phrases like “password” or “letmein,” keyboard patterns such as “qwerty” or “qazwsx,” patterns such as “abcd1234” or personal information like your birthday or street name.So choose a combination of letters, numbers, or symbols to create a unique password that’s unrelated to your personal information.One idea you can try is to choose a line from your favorite song, film or play, like “To be or not to be: That is the question.” Then use numbers, symbols and mixed-case letters to recreate it: “2bon2bT1tq” is a password with quadrillions of variations. The more unusual the phrase you choose the better!Or you could pick a random word or phrase, and insert letters and numbers into the beginning, middle, and end, such as “sPo0kyh@ll0w3En.” Make sure your password recovery options are up-to-date and secure Make sure your recovery email address is up to date so that you can receive emails in case you need to reset your password. Sometimes you can also add a phone number to receive password reset codes via text message. Additionally, many websites (including Google Accounts) will ask you to choose a question to verify your identity if you ever forget your password. If you’re able to create your own question, try to come up with a question that has an answer only you would know. Try to find a way to make your answer unique – you can do this by using some of the tips above – so that even if someone guesses the answer, they won’t know how to enter it properly. Keep your password reminders in a secret place that isn’t easily visible Don’t leave notes with your passwords in plain site, on your computer or desk. If you do decide to save your passwords in a file on your computer, create a unique name for the file so people don’t know what’s inside. Avoid giving the file an obvious name, such as “my passwords.” If you have a difficult time remembering multiple passwords, a trusted password manager may be a good solution. Spend a few minutes checking out the reviews and reputations of these services.

Awful things Internet addiction has done to me:- Internet addiction has made me a very lazy and unwilling fellow who would usually take 2-3 hours to start the day off.- Internet addiction has caused me great amounts of stress and anxiety. (For example, I have lots of pornographic material scattered around my two laptops and I start getting paranoid when people ask me if they can use my computer to check something.) The death of a loved one 2 years ago only made my situation worse.- Internet addiction has prevented me from exercising and staying fit.- Internet addiction has put lots of strain into my eyes, from constantly staring at the monitor for about 6+ hours a day. (Not natural.)- Internet addiction has made me less social with my friends and made me feel more impatient (like when I would wait longer than 5-10 minutes for a friend on an instant messenger program to respond to me and I'd start wondering if I said something that could have offended them or if I am bugging them too much).- Internet addiction has turned me away from playing some of my favorite video game consoles (I grew up with the Super Nintendo and still have it). Thankfully, at least I never got into MMORPGs or any other online game services. I mainly emulated.- Internet addiction has made me very obsessed with atheism and religion. Of course I am glad to no longer subscribe to any organized religion (I hold no grudges against those who do, just the ones that try to shove their beliefs down others' throats because I find it very inhumane), but I don't want to continue obsessing over it; it makes me feel very depressed. I don't want this.- Internet addiction has made me very untidy. Currently I have 4 stacks of plates, 2 stacks of cereal bowls, 3 stacks of 8 oz glass cups, and 2-3 forks and knives and 7 spoons. I have bits of shed hair (I have long, frizzy hair) here and there on the carpet and it is quite embarrassing!- Internet addiction has made me procrastinate on class assignments and fail school indubitably. - Internet addiction has wasted so much of my precious, precious time that could have been used for other things that are more worthwhile and productive. In fact, my one-year-and-a-half Facebook addiction has worsened me to the point where I just had to delete my account once and for all.- Internet addiction has made me forget about the usefulness and convenience of doing real-life alternatives, such as mailing out letters/post cards to friends instead of just refreshing my e-mail inbox every 1 hour when I am awake, or listening to my massive cassette/CD/record collection instead of just sitting around my computer listening to MP3s.So you see, I am in a SERIOUS need of a change! I am sick and tired of living this sad and pathetic lifestyle. The stupidity of sites like 4chan inspired me to leave the Internet behind.

Given the public interest in cyberbullying, we asked young people about it, only to be continually rebuffed. Teenagers repeatedly told us that bullying was something that happened only in elementary or middle school. ''There's no bullying at this school'' was a regular refrain.

Interventions must focus on positive concepts like healthy relationships and digital citizenship rather than starting with the negative framing of bullying. The key is to help young people feel independently strong, confident and capable without first requiring them to see themselves as either an oppressed person or an oppressor.

Don't give your real name on gaming sitesBest not to have anyone on your IM (instant messaging) list that you don't know in the real worldYou can block people in IM and chat areasBest not to meet people you meet online, they might not be who they say they areTell an adult you trust if an online friend asks to meet youReport a contact to CEOP if you think they might be an adult

Given the absence of face-to-face clues, written text can easily be misinterpreted. Avoid the use of strong or offensive language and the excessive use of exclamation points. If you feel particularly strongly about a point, it may be best to write it first as a draft and then to review it, before posting it, in order to remove any strong language.

If someone states something that you find offensive, mention this directly to the instructor. Remember that the person contributing to the discussion is also new to this form of communication. What you find offensive may quite possibly have been unintended and can best be cleared up by the instructor.

Although electronic communication is still young, many conventions have already been established. DO NOT TYPE IN ALL CAPS. This is regarded as shouting and is out of place in a classroom. Acronyms and emoticons (arrangements of symbols to express emotions) are popular, but excessive use of them can make your message difficult to read. Some common ones include:

Talk About It Talk with your kids about the Internet, and encourage them to see it as a shared, open environment in which they have social responsibilities just as they would in any physical environment.With open discussion, you can set expectations about the behavior you expect from them, curb negativity and discourage behaviors such as secrecy, boundary-pushing or thrill-seeking. You can also emphasize that online safety is something you care about and will continue to examine.Keep in mind: Enjoy the Internet along with your children, and discuss the ways in which it brings value into your lives.Stay open to your kids' questions, and encourage them to share their Internet experiences with you without fear of punishment about what they read, see or experience.Discuss how to safely interact online with others, why kids should stay away from certain types of content and individuals, and that Internet rules are there to protect kids. Teach children to trust their instincts, and to come to you if something or someone online makes them feel uncomfortable or threatened. Stay calm and remind them that they are not in trouble for bringing issues to your attention. Praise their discretion.As kids get older, keep family communications about the Internet as open and positive as you can. Talk with your kids about their online friends and activities just as you would talk about other friends and activities.

Set Rules for Internet Use Lay out rules for Internet use, setting clear expectations for your kids' online habits. A good set of rules should include things like the amount of time kids are allowed to be online, what types of content are appropriate and who it's okay to chat with as well as proper online conduct and good Internet citizenship.Keep in mind: The most successful rules are those that are created collaboratively. Work with your kids to draw up an online family safety contract that the whole family can agree to and sign. Discuss the rules frequently. Remind them that the rules are in place to protect your family, and that strictly maintaining privacy online can lower the risk of being targeted by online predators. Tell kids that following the rules and keeping communications open will allow them to gain freedoms as they get older. Let them know that you will reevaluate the rules over time. You can reinforce the rules you set by enabling restrictions on your PC. Windows Live Family Safety lets you set parameters that can limit Internet searches, monitor and filter specific websites, receive detailed activity reports of your child’s online activities, and let you be in control of who your child can communicate with in Windows Live Spaces, Messenger, or Hotmail1.

Balance Time Online Maintaining a balance between entertainment and other activities in kids' lives can be a serious challenge. The Internet has made it even more difficult, as the lines between entertainment and education are often blurred. Modeling a healthy balance between your online and offline activities is a great way to encourage children to do the same.Keep in mind: Enforce rules about the amount of time your kids may spend online, and the hours they are allowed to go online. Help your kids develop self-control, discipline and accountability regarding Internet use. Use parental controls in Windows 7 to limit PC time. Set up individual user accounts to determine how much computer time children have and what hours of the day they are allowed to use the PC, as well as which programs and games they can access.Encourage and support their participation in other activities — particularly physical pastimes with other children. If your child is reluctant, look for offline activities that tap into the same interests your kids pursue online. Watch for signs of Internet dependency. If Internet use seems excessive or begins to affect your child's school performance, health or relationships, consider professional counseling for Internet addiction.