ReputationDefender Advocates for Stronger Internet Safety Measures to the FCC

Here at ReputationDefender we pride ourselves on being at the forefront of Internet privacy and online reputation management issues. To this end, we frequently engage with other organizations in advocating the government for stronger and more transparent Internet policies.

Recently, the Internet Keep Safe Coalition, which is the leading advocacy organization for children’s Internet safety, asked us to draft a number of recommendations to present before the Federal Communications Commission. Having worked successfully with iKeepSafe in the past, we were more than happy to accommodate their request.

We believe that our six recommendations, which we have shared below, will help make the Internet a safer and more productive place for children and teens, and we are pleased to have the iKeepSafe Coalition present them to the FCC.

1. Educate parents about the dangers of permanent digital memory, about how schools and admissions offices look at online content and behavior, about bullying and harassment and about personal information that can be found online.
2. Require plain language disclosures: Websites aimed at under-13 minors must disclose in plain language what information that collect, how long they store it, and who receives it.
3. Require a data forgetting policy: Websites must have and disclose a plan for how to securely delete information that is no longer relevant–including marketing information and in-game/in-site interactions. Websites must have a comprehensive plan that weighs the costs and benefits of keeping data.
4. Require sites to have an anti-bullying/anti harassment program: Social interaction on websites aimed at under-13 minors must be actively monitored  by a real trusted human to ensure there is not bullying or abuse.
5. Require sites to have an anti-predator program: Websites aimed at under-13 minors must actively monitor logins and social interactions to prevent adults from stalking, etc.
6. Encourage sites to provide easy parental notifications: Websites aimed at under-13 minors should easily and freely allow parents (upon sufficient proof of identity) to monitor and review their child’s online activity.

ReputationDefender also worked with iKeepSafe to develop a separate set of recommendations for parents (found below). It is our hope that these tips will help parents connect with their kids about Internet issues and foster a stronger and more responsibly minded generation of Internet users.

1. Begin talking to your children about online safety when they are young. If you start the dialogue early, and keep open lines of conversation with your children, you can effectively educate them on Internet issues as they arise, rather than having to scramble to fix a mistake after it occurs.
2. Monitor your child’s Internet use as much as possible. One way to do this is to keep the family computer in an open space instead of giving them a personal laptop. Remember, when your child accesses something inappropriate on the Internet, it typically isn’t because they are trying to do something “wrong.” They are simply being kids and exploring the online world.
3. Regularly search for information about your child online. By doing regular searches, you can make sure nobody has posted inappropriate information about them.
4. If your child is participating in community game sites, beware of information that is made visible to the world. Interaction within most “kid” sites should not be made visible to Google or any other index. There is no reason why anyone outside the gaming community should see it.
5. Google your child and review his/her results when getting ready to apply to school. With 54% of college admission officers using search engines to learn about potential applicants, it is imperative that your child doesn’t have anything that could hurt their chances of getting accepted to college.