Internet Safety Technical Task Force Newsfeed

New Paper: Why parents help their children lie to Facebook about age: Unintended consequences of the COPPA

ashar — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:10:05 -0400

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society is pleased to share a new paper published in First Monday, "Why parents help their children lie to Facebook about age: Unintended consequences of the ‘Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act,’'" authored by Berkman community members danah boyd, Eszter Hargittai, Jason Schultz, and John Palfrey.

The paper can be accessed here: <http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3850/3075>

Abstract from the authors: Facebook, like many communication services and social media sites, uses its Terms of Service (ToS) to forbid children under the age of 13 from creating an account. Such prohibitions are not uncommon in response to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which seeks to empower parents by requiring commercial Web site operators to obtain parental consent before collecting data from children under 13. Given economic costs, social concerns, and technical issues, most general–purpose sites opt to restrict underage access through their ToS. Yet in spite of such restrictions, research suggests that millions of underage users circumvent this rule and sign up for accounts on Facebook. Given strong evidence of parental concern about children’s online activity, this raises questions of whether or not parents understand ToS restrictions for children, how they view children’s practices of circumventing age restrictions, and how they feel about children’s access being regulated. In this paper, we provide survey data that show that many parents know that their underage children are on Facebook in violation of the site’s restrictions and that they are often complicit in helping their children join the site. Our data suggest that, by creating a context in which companies choose to restrict access to children, COPPA inadvertently undermines parents’ ability to make choices and protect their children’s data. Our data have significant implications for policy–makers, particularly in light of ongoing discussions surrounding COPPA and other age–based privacy laws.

We welcome you to share this research with friends, colleagues, students, and others that may be interested, and you can visit http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ & http://youthandmedia.org/ for more information about the Berkman Center's work on issues related to youth, safety, law, and policy. As always, we welcome your feedback.

Sahara Byrne on Parent vs Child Reports of Internet Behaviors

djones — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:10:09 -0500

First Amendment Center online symposium on "Cyberbullying & Public Schools"

syoung — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:30:00 -0400

Debating CDA 230

syoung — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:30:00 -0500

An exchange between Berkman faculty co-director John Palfrey and Adam Thierer (Progress & Freedom Foundation, Technology Liberation Front) concerning tweaking Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act was published today in Ars Technica:

When the Communications Decency Act (CDA) was enshrined into law with the passage of the historic Telecommunications Act of 1996, it contained a number of controversial provisions that covered "obscene or indecent" online content. But at the behest of ISPs and others concerned about the potentially stifling effects of possible obscenity suits on the still-young network, the CDA also included 47 U.S.C. Sec. 230, commonly known as Section 230, which shielded “interactive computer service providers” from liability for information posted or published by users of their systems.

CONTINUED...

This dialogue has been in the works for some time. Adam pressed John on remarks about CDA 230 in Born Digital during the Q&A of John and Urs Gasser's Cambridge book talk. More recently, John briefly outlined his views on CDA 230 at the end of a Berkman luncheon discussion of the final report of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force (Adam served on the Task Force, which John chaired). (Even more recently, on a different set of questions, Adam interviewed John about Born Digital on the Technology Liberation Front podcast.)

We hope that you will read John and Adam's discussion, and take a moment to weigh in -- fittingly -- in the comments.

ISTTF: Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies

djamous — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:25:50 -0500

Presentation and panel on "Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies" at the State of the Net Conference 2009...

syoung — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:00:00 -0500

Radio Berkman: A Safer Web

djones — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 11:00:06 -0500

Internet Safety Technical Task Force Releases Final Report on Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies

syoung — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:00:00 -0500

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University today released the final report of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, a group of 29 leading Internet businesses, non-profit organizations, academics, and technology companies that joined together for a year-long investigation of tools and technologies to create a safer environment on the Internet for youth.

The Task Force was created in February 2008 in accordance with the Joint Statement on Key Principles of Social Networking Safety announced in January 2008 by the Attorneys General Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking and MySpace. The report was delivered to the 52 Attorneys General in December, 2008.

To read the final report, including the executive summary, as well as reaction statements from members of the Task Force, visit:

http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/pubrelease/isttf

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For more on the report, tune into the Radio Berkman podcast for this week, which features an interview with John Palfrey, chair of the Task Force, and Dena Sacco, one of its co-directors.

Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies

syoung — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:57:04 -0500

The Internet Safety Technical Task Force was a group of Internet businesses, non-profit organizations, academics, and technology companies that joined together to identify effective tools and technologies to create a safer environment on the Internet for youth. It was created in February 2008 in accordance with the "Joint Statement on Key Principles of Social Networking Safety" announced in January 2008 by the Attorneys General Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking and MySpace. The Task Force was directed by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society. It submitted its Final Report to the Attorneys General in December, 2008.

Visit the Internet Safety Technical Task Force final report download site for access to the full report and additional materials and resources.

Call for Updated and New Technology Submissions to the Internet Safety Technical Task Force

lkoss — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:00:00 -0500

In the spirit of openness and participation inspired by election day, the Internet Safety Technical Task Force is encouraging your continued participation in its process as it concludes its inquiry into technology tools to promote youth online safety.

The Task Force is now in the final quarter of this undertaking. In the interest of ensuring that the process is as current and inclusive as possible in identifying relevant technologies, the Task Force would like to invite any technology company that submitted to the Technology Advisory Board in July and has since made a material change to its technology to provide an updated submission. Additionally, the Task Force invites companies that were unable to submit a technology to the TAB in July to do so now. Please be sure to use the template posted on the TAB webpage and submit no later than November 30, 2008.

Please note: All original submissions will remain online, and all new and/or updated submissions will be posted on the Task Force's website along with those received previously. However, new and/or updated submissions will not be considered by the Technology Advisory Board, as their formal review process is now complete. Please feel free to contact Jess Tatlock with any questions.