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http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/tech/tec13.pdf
Social
networking sites are the hippest “meet market” around, especially among tweens, teens, and 20-somethings. These sites encourage
and allow people to exchange information about themselves, and use blogs, chat rooms, email, or instant messaging to communicate
with the world at large. But while they can increase a person’s circle of friends, they also can increase exposure to people
who have less-than-friendly intentions, including sexual predators.
Help Your Kids socialize safelY online
The
Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, urges parents to talk to their tweens and teens about social
networking sites, and offers these tips for using these sites safely:
• In some circumstances, the Children’s Online Privacy
Protection Act and Rule require social networking sites to get parental consent before they collect, maintain, or use personal
information from children under age 13.
• Keep the computer in an open area, like the kitchen or family room, so
you can keep an eye on where your kids are online and what they’re doing.
Facts for Consumers
• Use the Internet
with your kids. Be open to learning about the technology so you can keep up with them.
• Talk to your kids about their
online habits. If they use social networking
sites, tell them why it’s important to keep information like their name,
Social Security number, address, phone number, and family financial information — like bank or credit card account numbers
— to themselves. Remind them that they should not share that information about other people in the family
or about their
friends, either.
Your children should be cautious about sharing other information too, like the name of their school,
sports teams, clubs, where they work or hang out, or any other information that could be used to identify them or locate them
offline.
• Make sure your kids’ screen names don’t say too much about them. Explain why it’s inappropriate — even
dangerous — to use their full name, age, or hometown. Even if your kids think their screen name makes them anonymous, it doesn’t
take a genius to combine clues to figure out who your kids are and where they can be found.
• Use privacy settings to
restrict who can access and post on your child’s website. You may approve of their friends from school, clubs, teams, community
groups, or your family being able to view your kids’
website, but not strangers from a neighboring town or school.
•
Your kids should post only information that you — and they — are comfortable with others seeing — and knowing. Many people
can see their page, including their teachers, the police, a college admissions officer, or a potential employer.
•
Remind your kids that once they post information online, they can’t take it back. Even if they delete the information from
a site, older versions exist on other people’s computers.
• Warn your kids about the dangers of flirting with strangers
online. Because
some people lie online about who they really are, no one ever really knows who they’re dealing with.
• Tell your children to trust their gut if they have suspicions. If they feel threatened by someone or uncomfortable because
of something online, they need to tell you and then report it to the police and your Internet service provider. You could
end up preventing someone else from becoming a
victim.
• If you’re concerned that your child is engaging in risky
online behavior, you can search the blog sites they visit to see what information they’re posting. Try searching by their
name, nickname, school, hobbies, grade, or area where you live.
• Check site privacy policies. Some sites may share information
like your child’s email address with other companies, which could generate spam and even spyware on the family computer. Sites’
privacy policies or other posted links for parents also may contain contact information for you to ask about your child’s
personal information.
Facts for Consumers
for More inforMation
To learn more about staying safe online, visit
the following organizations:
Federal Trade Commission
www.OnGuardOnline.gov
The FTC works for the consumer
to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers
spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free
information on consumer issues, visit ftc.gov or call toll-free,
1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382- 4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related
complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of
civil and criminal law enforcement
agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
The FTC manages OnGuardOnline.gov, which provides practical tips from the federal government
and the technology industry to help you be on guard against Internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal
information.
GetNetWise
www.getnetwise.org
GetNetWise is a public service sponsored by Internet industry
corporations and public interest organizations to help ensure that Internet users
have safe, constructive, and educational
or entertaining online experiences. The GetNetWise coalition wants Internet users to be just “one click away” from the resources
they need to make informed decisions about their and their family’s use of the Internet.
Internet Keep Safe Coalition
www.iKeepSafe.org
iKeepSafe.org, home of Faux Paw the Techno Cat, is a coalition of 49 governors/first spouses, law
enforcement, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other associations dedicated to helping
parents, educators, and caregivers by providing tools and guidelines to teach children the safe and healthy use of technology.
The organization’s
vision is to see generations of children worldwide grow up safely using technology and the Internet.
i-SAFE
www.i-safe.org
Founded in 1998 and endorsed by the U.S. Congress, i-SAFE is a non-profit foundation
dedicated to protecting the online experiences of youth everywhere. i-SAFE incorporates classroom curriculum with dynamic
community outreach to empower students, teachers, parents, law enforcement, and concerned adults to make the Internet a safer
place. Join them today in the fight to safeguard children’s online experience.
National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children
www.missingkids.com; www.netsmartz.org
NCMEC is a private, non-profit organization that helps prevent child
abduction and sexual exploitation; helps find missing children; and
assists victims of child abduction and sexual exploitation,
their families, and the professionals who serve them.
National Crime Prevention Council
www.ncpc.org; www.mcgruff.org
The National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC)
is a private, nonprofit organization whose primary mission is to enable
people to create safer and more caring communities by addressing the causes of crime and violence and reducing the opportunities
for crime to occur. Among
many crime prevention issues, NCPC addresses Internet Safety with kids and parents through www.mcgruff.org
and public service advertising under the National Citizens’ Crime Prevention Campaign — symbolized by McGruff the Crime Dog®
and his “Take A Bite Out Of Crime®.”
Facts for Consumers
National Cyber Security Alliance
www.staysafeonline.org
NCSA is a non-profit organization that provides tools and resources to empower home users, small businesses, and schools,
colleges, and
universities to stay safe online. A public- private partnership, NCSA members include the Department of
Homeland Security, the Federal Trade Commission, and many private-sector corporations and organizations.
staysafe
www.staysafe.org
staysafe.org is an educational site intended to help consumers understand both the positive aspects
of the Internet as well as how to manage a variety of
safety and security issues that exist online.
Wired Safety
www.wiredsafety.org
WiredSafety.org is an Internet safety and help group. Comprised of unpaid volunteers around the
world, WiredSafety.org provides education,
assistance, and awareness on all aspects of cybercrime and abuse, privacy,
security, and responsible technology use. It is also the parent group of Teenangels.org, FBI-trained teens and preteens who
promote Internet safety.
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