The final report of the ISTTF is now available.
Q: What is the ISTTF?
A: The Internet Safety Technical Task Force is a group of
Internet businesses, non-profit organizations, academics and technology
companies that have joined together to identify effective tools and
technologies to create a safer Internet environment for children and youth..
Q: Why was the Task Force
created?
A: The Internet Safety Technical Task Force was convened in
response to an agreement between MySpace and 49 State Attorneys General. The
agreement, announced on January 14, 2008, reads, in part:
“MySpace will organize, with
support of the Attorneys General, an industry-wide Internet Safety Technical
Task Force (“Task Force”) devoted to finding and developing … online safety
tools with a focus on finding and developing online identity authentication
tools. This Task Force will include Internet businesses, identity
authentication experts, non-profit organizations, and technology companies. …
The Task Force will establish specific and objective criteria that will be
utilized to evaluate existing and new technology safety solutions.”
Q: Who is on the
Task Force?
A: The Task Force includes Internet businesses, identity
authentication experts, non-profit organizations, academies and technology
companies. The Task Force is chaired by John Palfrey, and co-directed by danah
boyd and Dena Sacco, all of the
The Task Force will also include two sub-groups, the Research Advisory Board
and the Technology Advisory Board. Membership on these boards was
determined by the
Q: Who named the members
of the Task Force?
A: Members of the Task Force were invited to participate by
MySpace, pursuant to its agreement with the Attorneys General.
Q: What is the Research
Advisory Board?
A: The Research Advisory Board (RAB) is chaired by the
Q: What is the Technology
Advisory Board?
A: The Technology Advisory Board (TAB) is chaired by Laura
DeBonis (formerly of Google), and is comprised of twelve members and eight observersrepresenting a cross section of industry expertise and scholarship,
including computer scientists, security experts, and technologists. The TAB’s purpose is to examine
possible technology solutions to the problems of youth online safety. Through
a formal evaluation process, the TAB will consider technologies introduced by
the Task Force, those that emerge through the Research Advisory Board, and
those introduced by the public. To this end, the TAB recently announced a call
for technology submissions from vendors working in this area. The TAB will
assess proposed technology solutions in terms of their viability,
effectiveness, security, and potential pitfalls in relation to the goals of the
Task Force, and will write a report to the Task Force based on their findings.
As with the Research Advisory Board, the
Q: What is the scope of
the Task Force’s inquiry?
A: The
scope of the Internet Safety Task Force’s inquiry is to consider those
technologies that industry and end users can utilize to keep children and youth
safe on the Internet. The bulk of the Task Force's attention will be given to
issues concerning contact: preventing harmful contact with adults, preventing
harmful contact with other minors (including cyber bullying and sexual
predation). As time allows, we will also address two content areas:
preventing access to inappropriate content and preventing illegal content (such
as child pornography). The Task Force will consider youth safety on the
Internet as a whole, rather than looking at one particular environment.
The solutions to be considered include a broad range of technology tools and
services. The Task Force also recognizes the importance of other solutions –
such as social norms, law, policy, and market factors – and will situate technology-based
solutions within the context of these other types of solutions.
Q: What will the Task
Force produce?
A: The
Task Force is responsible to the Attorneys General for quarterly reports, as
well as a Final Report due on December 31, 2008.
Q: How will the
Task Force operate?
A: To
undertake its work, the Task Force will hold a series of meetings open only to
Task Force members and those they invite to make presentations. In addition,there will be one meeting open to the public to be held in September 2008 at
Q: When will the Task
Force meet?
A: The
Task Force is scheduled to hold four meetings throughout the year, as well as a
public meeting in September 2008 at
Q: How can I get involved
in the Task Force?
A: For practical reasons membership is currently
closed; however, we strongly encourage and appreciate input from stakeholders
on all sides of this important issue, including the technology industry, law
enforcement, youth advocates, educators and families.
To facilitate
public participation in the problem-solving work of the Task Force, we will
host a public meeting at
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