Yesterday was Safer Internet Day in over 100 countries. If you don’t recall ever hearing about it before, it’s probably because the U.S. has been late getting involved. But this year the day got significant support from some big American companies, and for good reason – they have a lot to lose if the Internet becomes generally considered unsafe. It’s notable that the British apparently continue to be more concerned about Internet safety specifically for children, while U.S. concern seems to be for all Internet users.
- Safer Internet Day: One in four children share personal information with strangers online (The Independent/James Vincent) “The survey of 1,000 parents found that 25 per cent of young children confessed sharing personal information including their full name, address, password and images with people they didn’t know. The research, which was conducted by Disney’s Club Penguin in partnership with Childnet and the UK’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), also found that one in six of the children surveyed that sharing such information was appropriate.”
- Safer Internet Day: parents failing to protect children from online threats (The Telegraph/Sophie Curtis) “Separate research by Kaspersky Lab found that more than a quarter of parents believe their children have been exposed to online risks, such as accessing inappropriate content or cyber bullying, in the past 12 months. Last year, ISPs in the UK introduced network filters which can block inappropriate content from all the online devices within the home. The filters block access to pornography, ‘obscene and tasteless’ content, hate and self-harm, drugs, alcohol and tobacco and some dating sites.”
- Microsoft asks consumers to “Do 1 Thing” to support Safer Internet Day (PRNewswire) “According to the MCSI [Microsoft Computing Safety Index] survey, the annual worldwide impact of phishing and various forms of identity theft could be as high as $5 billion, with the cost of repairing damage to peoples’ online reputation higher yet at nearly $6 billion, or an estimated average of $632 per loss. This means that education and guidance about how to avoid online risks remain key and is why Microsoft is asking people to “Do 1 Thing” today and make it part of their daily digital routine.”
- Microsoft, Google and Twitter mark Safer Internet Day with privacy awareness initiatives (The Next Web/Jon Russell) “As you might expect, Google is also taking part in Safer Internet Day, though its participation is quieter than the other two. Like Microsoft, it is providing basic tips for Internet users on its Good To Know Web safety site.”
Day fact:
This is the eleventh year Safer Internet Day has been observed in Europe, but it has only been observed in the United States in the last few years.
