Safe and Secure

Survey: Most teens take steps to protect their privacy (podcast)

A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project and Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society has mostly good news about how teens approach privacy issues on social-networking services.

While "teens are sharing more information about themselves on social media sites than they did in the past," according to the study, "few teens embrace a fully public approach to social media," but "take an array of steps to restrict and prune their profiles." Here's the full report.

The study also found that:

Teen Twitter use has … Read more

Does Facebook's new 'Home' put too much Facebook in your face? (podcast)

If you're one of the people who get Facebook's new Home software, your social-media life will be front and center whenever you pick up your phone. It's literally putting Facebook in your face.

While that may have appeal to heavy-duty Facebook users who want to be in constant touch with their social graph, it raises some issues about "presence." People have their phones with them almost all the time, including when they're interacting with friends, family, and work colleagues, and many of us (myself included) have a habit of paying attention to our phones … Read more

RSA sees 'big data' as key to corporate security (podcast)

Big data is one the the big themes at this week's annual RSA security conference in San Francisco.

That's because analyzing a company's stores of data is another step in improving information security, RSA Vice President Brian Fitzgerald said.

"Classic security defenses are no longer that effective in a world where data centers no longer have a fixed perimeter. They're connected to suppliers and to customers. Information is flowing between partners on a massive scale," he said in an audio podcast (scroll down to listen).

Analyzing a company's data allows you to "… Read more

Expert advice for online dating (podcast)

"It's never been easier to find a date," says CyberDatingExpert.com publisher Julie Spira. And when it comes to online dating, she adds, the "stigma is gone."

She credits Facebook with helping to make people feel comfortable about sharing online and about joining an online dating site. Thousands of online dating sites exist, including niche sites aimed at Democrats and Republicans, as well as different religions and even vegans and vegetarians.

Spira is a fan of "truth in advertising" and recommends that people be authentic about their age, photos, and what they enjoy. … Read more

U.S. just getting on board Safer Internet Day (podcast)

In 2004 the European Commission created Safer Internet Day to be celebrated on the second day of the second week of the second month -- which this year is tomorrow.

On this day, organizations in various countries conduct public events, tweet-ins, press conferences, and otherwise spread the word about how young people can use the Internet safely and securely. This year's theme is "online rights and responsibilities" with the slogan, "Connect with Respect." The event is coordinated by Insafe, a European network of "Awareness Centres," that promote "safe, responsible use of the … Read more

FTC re-slams apps for kids over privacy concerns

In February 2012, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a report titled Mobile Apps for Kids: Current Privacy Disclosures are Disappointing (PDF) that pointed out that there was "little or no" privacy information available to parents in the Android Google Play and Apple iOS app stores prior to download and scarce data in the apps themselves or on the app vendors websites.

And on Monday, the FTC issued a follow up report, Mobile Apps for Kids Disclosures Still Not Making the Grade that complains that "despite many high-visibility efforts to increase transparency in the mobile marketplace, little … Read more

MetaCert aims to block porn throughout the home (podcast)

There are lots of tools out there to help parents keep their kids away from what's typically considered inappropriate online content. Most, however, run on PCs and Macs, which means all bets are off if, for instance, a child surfs via a smartphone or a tablet.

MetaCert has a different idea. It's now beta-testing a server-based porn filter parents can set up to automatically block access to pornographic sites across their entire home network. It does so by hosting the filter on a DNS, or domain-name system, server -- effectively pushing the filter from individual computers into the … Read more

How Facebook fights child porn

It's hard not to be affected by an article titled "Kids Raped, Sodomized on Facebook Pages," the first of a four-part WND series about child porn and Facebook.

The article alleges that the blog "located dozens of child porn images after 'friending' many likely pedophiles and predators who trade thousands of pornographic photos on the social network."

Unlike legal "adult pornography," child porn depicts sexual exploitation of children, in some cases very young children. Child porn is illegal in the United States and many other countries. Anyone who knowingly produces, transmits, stores, or … Read more

California AG Kamala Harris on app privacy deal (podcast)

California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced a mobile app privacy agreement today with Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Hewlett-Packard, and Research In Motion.

The agreement with the companies whose platforms and app stores collectively dominate the mobile app universe, is designed to bring the mobile app industry into compliance with California's existing law that requires companies that collect personal information to have a published privacy policy.

The announcement comes in the wake of several reports of companies uploading user data, sometimes without informing the user or getting permission.

Last week the Federal Trade Commission released a report titled "Mobile … Read more

FTC: Mobile apps for kids lack privacy disclosures

In a report released today, the FTC said that when it comes to mobile applications aimed at kids there is "little, if any, information in the app marketplaces about the data collection and sharing practices of these apps."

The Federal Trade Commission said that its staff searched the Apple and Android app stores for apps using the word "kids," and "encountered a diverse pool of apps for kids created by hundreds of different developers," but that privacy disclosure was lacking.

The report, titled Mobile Apps for Kids: Current Privacy Disclosures are Disappointing (PDF), focused … Read more