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Hi all, I have been causing some problems for to companies that are trying to get to your students. The situation is this: This nation¹s Attorneys General have been promoting the idea of using digital identification (also called age verification) ostensibly to protect young people from online predators. While protecting young people is indeed a very worthy objective, the push for a technology ³quick fix² to this concern appears to have some very undesirable unintended consequences. Two companies are now seeking the assistance of schools to digitally identify students. Both companies are planning to provide demographic information about students to web sites to enable those sites to engage in more effective targeted advertising to these young people. This additional use of student demographic data has not been fully disclosed to school or parents. There is an Education Week story here: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/11/12/12social_ep.h28.html And a NY Times story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/business/16ping.html?_r=1&ref=technology&o ref=slogin I blogged about this here: http://csriu.wordpress.com/digital-identification-and-the-dangers-to-youth/ There are two new reports on my site. http://csriu.org. One outlines the issue of these two companies. The other that sets for a comprehensive approach for Digital Citizenship and Youth Risk Online. It is important that you understand that most of what most people think about online sexual predators is wrong. These incidents are rare - far, far more young people are sexually abused by family members and acquaintances. Predators do not target children - they target emotionally teens who will talk about sex - or teens who appear to be "seeking.". They do not track young people based on personal contact information they post and then abduct them - none of us in this field have been able to find one documented case of this. They are not deceptive about age or intentions, although they may pretend to love the teen - the teens meet with them knowing they are adults and intending to engage in sex. The AGs have been pushing this issue very hard. The other contributors to this techno-panic are media and companies that are trying to create sales by raising fear. I found a Florida company called Safewave that states on its site: "Thousands of children a year are victims of cyber-bullying and online predators at pandemic levels. Thousands more are exposed daily to inappropriate and unwelcomed content. By age 14, 77% of children have been contacted by a predator. Only 25% of those children tell their parents." This is falt out BS! Actually, the arrests for sexual abuse have been decreasing during the decade the Internet has grown. I have asked where they got the 77% - which is ridiculous - and they have not yet responded. In the late 90's there were a bunch of companies providing "free services" to schools for the purpose of getting access to demographic data for market profiling and to try to advertise to captive kids in school. There is a new business model that is very aggressive right now. This model focuses on scaring schools and parents about online predators - so the companies can get demographic data and advertise to kids. The more they get away with these fear-tactics, the harder it will be to bring Web 2.0 technologies into schools for instructional purposes. Please let me know of any other companies out there trying this tactic. Thanks. Nancy -- Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D. Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use http://csriu.org http://cyberbully.org http://cyber-safe-kids.com http://csriu.wordpress.com nwillard@csriu.org Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats: Responding to the Challenge of Online Social Aggression, Threats, and Distress (Research Press) Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens: Helping Young People Learn to Use the Internet Safely and Responsibly (Jossey-Bass) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. * LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://lm-net.info/ * LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html * LM_NET Wiki: http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------