Safe and Secure

Movie 'Trust' dramatizes Internet sex crime

When I recently screened the new movie "Trust," my reaction was similar to watching films about hijackings and airline crashes that depict events that, while possible, are both rare and horrendous.

"Trust," in limited release today, is the story of Annie, a 14-year-old girl who has an online (and cell phone) relationship with someone she thinks is a 15 year-old boy she met in a teen chat room. "Charlie" later tells her that he's a college student and eventually confesses that he's a 25-year-old graduate student. When they finally meet at a mall, she can see that he'more

Is there really 'Facebook depression?' (podcast)

With the exception of the section on "Facebook depression," a report released Monday by the American Academy of Pediatrics has some excellent advice for parents of social media users.

Clinical Report: The Impact of Social Media on Children (PDF) starts out with data showing that teen and pre-teen use of social media has "increased dramatically" over the last five years, as has use of cell phones and texting. It also points out that "because of their limited capacity for self-regulation and susceptibility to peer pressure, children and adolescents are at some risk as they navigate and experiment with social media."more

Color CEO pictures world of shared photos (Podcast)

As Caroline McCarthy reported in her post about the new app, Color is a provocative iPhone and Android application that lets users share photos with anyone around them. Unlike Facebook, Flickr, and other services that allow you to share pictures, Color has practically no privacy settings. As founder Bill Nguyen said in our podcast interview (scroll down to listen), "there's no password, there's no profile, there's no friending...the moment you come into contact with another person that has the Color app, you'll start to see them. You'll see their pictures; you'll see their more

ScreenRetriever helps monitor kids' online activity (podcast)

When my kids were teens, my wife and I would occasionally walk into the room when they were on the Internet. We wouldn't stand there for long, but we would glance at the screen to make sure what they were doing was appropriate. The rule was that they had to use a computer in a public area of the house with the door open. We didn't spy on them, but we did check in now and then.

Now there's a software program that will let you do the same thing but from a different part of the more

Disney buys kids' social network Togetherville

The Walt Disney Company has just acquired Togetherville, a social-networking site aimed at 6- to 10-year-old children.

When I first wrote about Togetherville, just before it launched in May 2010, I was impressed because it was one of the few sites aimed at preteens that shared Facebook's idea of a "real-name culture." The site requires children and their adult family members to say who they are. Unlike another Disney online children's property, Club Penguin, it's not about avatars and virtual worlds but about the child's real identity. The site lets kids connect with their friends and more

Contest: $10,000 for winning Internet safety video

Security firm Trend Micro is launching its second annual "What's Your Story" contest to encourage youth and others to submit short videos on Internet safety and privacy.

Categories include being a good online citizen, using a cell phone wisely, and maintaining your online privacy.

The contest is open to anyone 13 and older in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., including students, teachers, and entire classrooms. In addition to the first-prize winner there will be six $500 prizes. Three will go to the best school entries in each category and three will go to the best individual more

Time to take the 'cyber' out of cyberbullying

We don't call it "pencil bullying" when someone uses a wooden stick with lead inside to write someone a threatening note. When a person shakes her fist in front of someone's face, we don't call it "fist bullying." And when kids don't let other kids sit at their lunch table, we don't call it "table bullying."

Yet when someone uses a cell phone or the Web to harass, demean, defame, or annoy another person, we give it the special name "cyberbullying."

I was reminded of this when I read a news story about two teens more

Wi-Fi Alliance urges use of WPA2 encryption (podcast)

The Wi-Fi Alliance is launching a campaign to urge consumers to configure routers and devices to use WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2) on all their wireless Wi-Fi equipment.

"Wi-Fi security has gone through some evolutions over the years and WP2, which has been around now for a few years, is the latest and greatest in Wi-Fi security," Kelly Davis-Kelner of the Wi-Fi Alliance said in this podcast interview.

WPA2, which offers government- and enterprise-grade security, is available in all products that the alliance has anointed as "WiFi Certified." The security standard replaces the original WPA and has stronger security than more

Fire dept. has an iPhone app for citizen CPR (podcast)

"Biology gives us about 10 minutes to survive if our heart stops beating," said Richard Price, chief of the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District. "We have a goal or arriving within seven minutes which is pretty close to that 10 minutes...We need to suspend time and that's what CPR does."

The district, which is located about 35 miles east of San Francisco, is updating an app called "Fire Department," which will now be used to alert CPR-trained citizens in the event of a nearby cardiac emergency. The idea, according to Price, is to extend the reach of more

Study: Young kids better with tech than 'life skills'

A survey of online mothers found that more small children can play a computer game than ride a bike. The Digital Diaries study from Internet security firm AVG said that 58 percent of children aged two to five know how to play a "basic computer game" compared with 52 percent who know how to ride a bike. Sixty-three percent can turn a computer on and off, and 69 percent can use a mouse. By contrast, only 20 percent can "swim unaided," 11 percent can tie their shoelaces without help, and 20 percent know how to make an emergency phone call. more