Objective

The objective of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force's Technical Advisory Board (TAB) is to evaluate and assess the range of technologies that may be used to promote children's safety on the Internet.

Technology submissions received by the TAB can be accessed from the event page for the ISTTF's September 2008 open meeting.

The Review Process

The TAB will undertake a technical review of the technologies submitted for its consideration and make public the results of this review.  The review will attempt to determine whether the technologies works as described and how well protected they are from circumvention.  The review will also attempt to determine the infrastructure and the operational requirements for the technologies.

The Role of TAB Members

TAB Members participate fully in both the design and execution of the review process for the technologies submitted for its consideration.  Only Members will participate in the actual review process and only they will generate final conclusions and recommendations for the Task Force.

The Role of TAB Observers

TAB Observers will participate in the design of the review process but not the execution of the reviews. Observers typically have useful industry experience and domain expertise, but also potential conflicts of interest.  To mitigate any potential for bias, their involvement with the TAB must be limited.  So, to be explicit, Observers have already and will continue to assist in the development of the review process (e.g the creation of the Submission Template, the development of a taxonomy, the Evaluation Form) but they will not participate in the actual review process itself.  Observers will, however, have access to the technology submissions and can submit a document called an "Observer's Comment" for any technology they choose that will be included in the final documentation of the TAB's work to the Task Force.

Call for Technology Submissions

The TAB is asking to receive submissions from individuals, companies, organizations, etc., with technologies relevant to child safety on the Internet.  While this Task Force is focused in large measure on age verification and identity authentication technologies in the context of social network sites, we are not limited to any specific type of application; we are also interested in technologies that address other types of social media (IM, chatrooms, texting, etc.) as well as those that address Internet access more broadly. We will review these submissions and ask for further information and/or in-person presentations for technologies that have significant promise or about which we have questions.

Some categories of technology we are interested in receiving submissions for include but are not limited to: filtering, blocking, parental controls, labeling, rating, identification, authentication, age verification, imaging, search, and forensics.

Submission of Technologies for Review

To guide this process, we have prepared a Template for submissions.  The Template is a formatted Word document that you should download and use to prepare your submission.  The Template includes formatting information as well as notes about what you should include.  The audience for your submission is technical, consisting primarily of computer scientists; your submission should be written with that audience in mind.

To have your technology included in the Technical Advisory Board's evaluation, please download the Template below, fill it out, and submit it as a PDF to tab@cyber.law.harvard.edu.   This submission will be given to all TAB members for review and it may be made available to the public.  We ask that you use the Template for consistency of style and content – please do not submit a press release or PowerPoint deck.

The deadline for submission is July 21, 2008.

Internet Safety Technical Task Force Technology Submission Template

Should we have any questions or follow up about your submission, we will contact you.  Should you have any questions for us, please contact Jessica Tatlock at jtatlock@cyber.law.harvard.edu.  We apologize in advance that we may not be able to respond to all inquiries.

Legal Disclaimer:  The Berkman Center, the Task Force and Task Force members, and the Technical Advisory Board, including its members and observers are under no obligation to maintain the confidentiality of the submitted abstracts or other materials you provide.  Please do not submit any information in your technical abstract that is confidential, proprietary or not for public dissemination. Please submit only information that you are willing to have made public. All submissions are subject to the Task Force Intellectual Property Policy.

As described in the submission Template, you must certify along with your abstract or proposal that you have read and agree to the IP Policy, and you must grant the Berkman Center and the Task Force a license to publicly post your submission and use it to carry out the Task Force’s work and develop the Task Force’s reports.

Technical Advisory Board, Members

Ben Adida, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University
Scott Bradner, Harvard University
Laura DeBonis, Berkman Center, Harvard University
Hany Farid, Dartmouth
Lee Hollaar, University of Utah
Todd Inskeep, Bank of America
Brian Levine, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Adi Mcabian, Twistbox
RL Morgan, University of Washington
Lam Nguyen, Stroz Friedberg, LLC
Jeff Schiller, MIT
Danny Weitzner, MIT

Technical Advisory Board, Observers

Rachna Dhamija, Usable Security Systems
Evie Kintzer, WGBH
Al Marcella, Webster University
John Morris, Center for Democracy and Technology
Teresa Piliouras, Polytechnic University
Greg Rattray, Delta-Risk
Jeff Schmidt, Consultant
John Shehan, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children