Tuesday, 30 September 2008
New government watchdog to keep kids safe on the net
Following the Byron report, the Government has founded The UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS), an internet watchdog that aims to help protect children from "harmful" web content, such as cyber-bullying and violent video games. There seem to be a lot of big organisations involved, but I hope they have a few independent individuals who actually know what they are talking about.
After ten years running a website full of user-generated by children I am well aware of the dangers and go to great lengths to ensure that children are safe on my site and on any others that they might go to. All content on Kids on the Net is pre-moderated and stripped of anything that could uniquely identify a child.
If the new organisation aims to teach children about web dangers, target harmful net content and establish a code of conduct for sites featuring material uploaded by users, I hope they incorporate some of the excellent materials and websites already out there and that the code of practice is sensible and practical.
Children's web watchdog launched from the BBC.
Labels: child safety online, childrenssafety, Kids on the Net, kidsonthenet.com, online identity, privacy, UKCCIS, watchdog
posted by Helen Whitehead 10:16 AM
Sunday, 3 August 2008
Why you should always secure your wifi connection
It's amazing how often I am in places where I can find an unsecured wifi network - especially in the business sectors of cities where you'd think companies would know better. Here's the most cogent reason yet for making sure your personal or business wifi is properly secured:
Mumbai police raided the home of Kenneth Haywood, an American ex-pat, when his wifi was used to send an email taking responsibility for a terrorist outrage. The email address was created just ten minutes before it was sent, probably for exactly that purpose. Mr Haywood had no idea, one assumes, who was using his connection.
Of course some providers want to share and provide free wifi to as many people as possible as a service to the community. Worthy - they shouldn't have to suffer and are not responsible for who uses their wifi.Labels: internet policy, online identity, privacy, safety, security, wifi
posted by Helen Whitehead 12:20 PM
Friday, 22 February 2008
The digital divide...
What digital divide? There is very much a divide on the basis of age - the older generation have grown up in a "keep yourself to yourself" era of treasured privacy, but younger people now plaster their identity all over cyberspace and aren't so concerned with privacy (rightly or wrongly).
There is much celebrity culture in young people's lives as well as the internet. Their social lives are organised on Facebook and replayed on Youtube: it can seem that everything about the young is entirely public and they hide nothing.
It's been called "conspicuous living" at a time when materialistic "conspicuous consumption" is falling.
However, there's a downside: as these youngsters start applying for University places or for jobs, they might regret the personal details they have splashed online. And it's quite possible they will put off potential employers or colleges.
Only the other day someone was telling me that they had "googled" a potential employee they were interviewing. The person had a common name so the company couldn't be sure whether they had found any relevant details - so there was luckily nothing to stop this particular person being offered the job.
It's becoming more and more important to manage online identity and image.
Some companies promise to remove incorrect, inappropriate, hurtful or slanderous material about clients from the web. I think that's not completely possible. One has to assume that what's on the Web can be found. There are steps, however, that one can take to
manage one's online identity.
My top tip is not to lie, but to use a slightly different name or nickname for personal web activity: if you're "Beth Woodbridge" on Facebook with thousands of photos of you drunk in University bars, then apply for jobs as "Elizabeth Woodbridge" and make sure that there is a professional looking online presence at that name - a personal website or online portfolio.Labels: Facebook, online identity
posted by Helen Whitehead 3:48 PM
Monday, 2 July 2007
Pay me to be you online?
Rory Cellan-Jones writing on the BBC website says
"I met somebody the other day who told me that online networking was so important, and he didn't have the time, he was paying somebody to be him online. To blog, network, post etc . £1,000 a month too. "
I would like to state for the record - I'm available! Ten years of experience in online social networks (yes they did exist 10 years ago, they just didn't have a trendy label) has to count for something.
Labels: online identity, social networking
posted by Helen Whitehead 1:04 PM
