Tim Lordan, Executive Director of GetNetWise.org, discusses the availability of personal information at many sites on the internet. Lordan advises consumers to put some limits on “offline” information and how to protect themselves on social networking sites. The conversation with Of Consuming Interest’s Shirley Rooker is podcast on WTOP’s Web site. Visit WTOP’s audio center for a limited time to play the audio of the broadcast or download the MP3 from their podcast RSS.

On Thursday, March 12 members of the GetNetWise Advisory Board were given an advanced tour of the parental controls on Microsoft Windows 7, the next iteration of the Windows operating system. The tour included previews of how the new operating system would provide parents with choices for who their children contact and what content they view, among other things. Members of the GetNetWise Advisory Board routinely get together to share ideas about youth online safety and provide feedback to industry on how better to protect youth online.

Washington, DC – We were thrilled to hear on our evening commute that local radio personality Chilli Amar for Mix 107.3 lists GetNetWise.org as one of her favorite sites for “all you need to know about keeping the net safe.” Chilli also posted a blog about it on her blog.

The GetNetWise Blog is a new, periodic instructional blog dedicated to helping families and computer users make their Internet use safer and more rewarding. The GNW Blog will draw from the tremendous encyclopedic resources available at GetNetWise and provide actionable tips on Internet safety and security. The Blog will also present the many instructional Internet safety “how-to” video tutorials featured on GetNetWise with additional notes and context.

The Internet has transformed our lives and the lives of our children. The core mission of the GNW Blog is to empower users to harness the power of the Internet and provide them the basic literacy skills need to do so safely, privately and securely. The GNW Blog offers only help and instruction, not value judgments. We hope you will become regular readers and refer your friends, families and colleagues to the blog.

Please visit the GetNetWise Blog at http://www.getnetwise.org/blog/ that already contains two entries complete with video tutorials: the first one on using password protection in Apple OS X, and another on making social networking sites more private. Be sure to add our RSS feed to your preferred RSS reader.

New Poll Indicates a Majority Feel Social Networking Eroding Kids’ Respect for Privacy; Few Adults Strongly Believe They Are Cyber Secure.

Washington, DC, Jun. 12 – On the heels of the release of new Zogby poll data on Internet Safety, Congressional policymakers and members of the online safety community have formed a “National Partnership for Safe Computing” to promote better awareness of online safety and cyber security.

The launch of the National Partnership for Safe Computing will bring online safety advocates, educators, and industry, together with Members of Congress to engage Americans on the topic of online safety and security. This pro-active solution to online threats is driven by promoting and facilitating education for parents and families.  Speakers including Congresswoman Melissa Bean, Congressman Frank Wolf, and Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour from the Federal Trade Commission will make supporting comments for the National Partnership preceding the second annual Town Hall Open House in the U.S. Capitol.

“The Partnership demonstrates not only the leadership of the private sector but also those Members of Congress who have rolled up their sleeves to help Internet users and parents across America take control of their online experiences,” said Tim Lordan, Executive Director of the National Partnership for Safe Computing.

The Zogby poll results demonstrate that parents are concerned about the effect of social networking sites on their children’s privacy and illustrates some confusion on where to turn to for advice on parenting in the digital age.

Among the poll results:

* The poll information indicates that many feel that the Internet and social networking are fundamentally changing youth’s concepts of privacy. As social networking becomes further integrated into the culture of youth, the results of this are manifesting in the changing of social norms.  A majority (72.2%) of individuals agreed that the Internet, specifically social networking, is eroding younger people’s respect for their own personal privacy.

* While social networking may be seen as eroding youth’s respect for privacy, social networking is not without a possible positive role in safe computing. When asked where they would turn first to get information about Internet safety, more than twice as many parents responded that they would turn to friends (27.7%) over law enforcement (11.5%).

* Underscoring the emphasis for expanding conversations surrounding safe computing in the home, a majority of individuals (72.3%) indicated that their families have had conversations about the Internet and safety issues. Despite the fact that many have had conversations surrounding the Internet and safety issues, a smaller percentage (65.6%) feel that they are actually protected from online fraud. Of the 65.6% that responded the felt they are protected from online fraud, only 13.7% responded that they strongly felt this way.

National Partners for Safe Computing:

Honorary Congressional Partners
Representative Melissa Bean (IL-8)
Representative Frank Wolf (VA-10)
Representative Thelma Drake (VA-2)
Representative Bob Goodlatte (VA-6)
Representative J. Randy Forbes (VA-4)
Representative Mark Kirk (IL-10)
Representative Randy Kuhl (NY-29)
Representative Lamar Smith (TX-21)

Private Sector Partners
American Library Association
AT&T
Comcast
Common Sense Media
ConnectSafely.com
CyberSmart!
Federal Trade Commission
GetNetWise
i-SAFE
iKeepSafe
National Cyber Security Alliance
NCTA/Cable in the Classroom
Qwest Communications
TRUSTe
Verizon
Web Wise Kids

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About the Survey:

The Zogby poll surveyed adults with children under 18 years old from 6/6/08 through 6/9/08 nationwide. It has a margin of error of +/- 1.7 percent. Communications firm 463 Communications helped conceive and develop the survey and the poll was made possible with generous support from Comcast Communications and Qwest Communications.

Yesterday National Public Radio aired a pair of very balanced stories on middle and high school students’ expectations of online privacy and attitudes toward safety. The pieces were very balanced and also provided parents help in dealing with their kids’ online experiences. The second segment of the show directed parents to GetNetWise.org for advice. Over the years we have spent a great deal of time addressing the issues related to the churning state of youth expectations of privacy. GetNetWise’s Social Networking Spotlight helps parents can learn more about making social networking profiles more private.

NPR’s Two Part Series:

* Digital Culture: Teens Take Advantage of Online Privacy Tools (6:37)
* Digital Culture: Teens’ Online “Friends” Often Number in the Hundreds (6:13)

We are pleased that the Telegraph, one of the UK’s leading news papers, has listed GetNetWise.org as one of it’s “101 Most Useful Web sites” this past week. In fact, GetNetWise comes in as number seven. This honor is similar to past acknowledgments by PC Magazine listing GetNetWise as one of the “Top 100 Classic Web sites“. We are delighted to share this recognition with our supporters, friends and colleagues.

On the policymaker education side of IEF Tim Lordan was asked by Federal Trade Commission staff to participate in a “roundtable discussion on phishing education” today, April 1, 2008. The FTC drew in experts on cyber security and consumer education for the event at their New Jersey Avenue meeting space.

Later in the month Tim Lordan will address the FTC’s “Mobile Marketing” Town Hall meeting on the topic of location privacy and safety. The Internet Caucus Advisory Committee has developed significant expertise in this area by looking at location issues since 2001. The ICAC hosted a major summit on the topic last year and is planning a follow-up location privacy and safety event this coming year.

Zogby/463 Nationwide Survey Exposes Americans’ Concern Over Kids’ Use of Technology Rapidly Evolving

Washington, DC, March 31, 2008 – A new nationwide survey shows that Americans have a growing comfort level with young people using Internet technologies such as social networking sites, chat rooms and email. The survey – conducted by Zogby International on behalf of the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee and 463 Communications – still shows large numbers of Americans concerned about the online activity of young people but those views are rapidly changing.

The survey compares results to a similar study conducted last year for the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee. In the 2008 survey, 27.7 percent of Americans said that social networking sites and chat rooms should be restricted to adults. Yet this was a dramatic decline from an identical 2007 survey in which 35.3 percent said that only adults should participate in social networking and chat sites. In contrast, seniors over age 70 still feel strongly concerned regarding social networking sites. The percentage of seniors who believed that children should wait until their adult years before chatting and social networking actually increased from 34.6 percent in 2007 to 38.3 percent in 2008.

More results from the surveys:

* The percentage of Americans who thought children should not have access to email until they were adults dropped from a sizable 14.7 percent in 2007 to an almost negligible 2.4 percent in 2008.

* The percentage of those who thought that children should wait until adulthood before surfing the Web dropped from 17.4 percent in 2007 to 4.2 percent in 2008.

“The survey results suggest that Americans are increasingly accepting greater use of new online technologies by our young people,” said Tim Lordan, executive director. “Yet the survey shows that it may take some time for many Americans to become comfortable with how kids are social networking and chatting.”

Despite an evolving comfort level with youth use of the Internet, the survey revealed significant concerns with social networking technologies. For instance, a significant majority of those surveyed, 63.2 percent, believed that children under 16 years old should not have use social networking sites and chat rooms. In contrast most of the major social networking sites today prohibit users less than 14 years old.

The 2008 Zogby poll surveyed 3,585 adults and was conducted from January 21-23. It has a margin of error of +/- 1.7 percent. The 2007 Zogby poll surveyed 1,200 adults and was conducted from January 24-26. It has a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percent. 463 Communications helped conceive and develop the survey.

About the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee: The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee (ICAC) is a diverse group of public interest, non-profit and industry groups working to educate the Congress and the public about important Internet-related policy issues. The ICAC is a project of the Internet Education Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization. http://www.netcaucus.org/

More about Zogby International can be found at http://www.zogby.com/

More about 463 Communications can be found at http://www.463.com/

For more information, contact: Tim Lordan, 202-638-4370 ext 323, tlordan@netcaucus.org

Today the Internet Education Foundation declined an invitation to participate in a “task force” effort resulting from the “Joint Statement on Key Principles of Social Networking Safety” announced in January 2008 by MySpace and the Attorneys General Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking.

Our reasons for deciding not to participate are two fold. First, the Internet Education Foundation, as its name suggests, is generally focused on Internet safety education and we believe our time is best spent toward that charter. Over the next year our Internet safety workload — both through the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee (CICAC) and through GetNetWise — is enormous. Our stakeholders are urging us to host Internet safety policy events in Washington and continue the educational work of GetNetWise.org.

Second, we feel very strongly the work of the task force is far too important to be hampered by task force participants that are age verification technology vendors.  From the outset we expressed our concern with financial interests of vendors clouding the sober judgment of this important work. That should be a cornerstone principle for the task force and we hope that it reconsiders that principle. We also hope that the process will be open and transparent, much like the work of the COPA Commission.

The work of this task force is important and will require significant research. We recognize that the results of the task force’s work could have serious repercussions for online safety. We sincerely hope that the task force will be able to conduct its research in a civil and sober manner, while recognizing the short timeline before the report is required.

The Internet Education Foundation has been selected as a participant in Google’s inaugural Policy Fellowship Program.  The purpose of the program is to “support students and organizations working on policy issues fundamental to the future of the Internet and its users.”  The program is open to undergraduate, graduate, and law students interested in learning more about Internet-related public policy issues by working with organizations that contribute to the public dialogue in both Washington and San Francisco.  The application deadline is January 1, 2008.  More information is available at www.google.com/policyfellowship/ .