SafeKids.com

Instagram recently introduced its new “Photos of You” feature that allows users to tag people in photos.  The  mobile photo app company, which was acquired by Facebook last year,  said in a blog post that it’s letting users add the “who” to their photos along with the “what” and “where” that were already available. Instead of using the word “tag,” which is used on Facebook, Instagram is calling it “Add” as in adding names of people to a picture.

To access this feature you need to update the app in the Apple app store or Google play.

How it works

After you take a picture, you have the option to “Add People” from the Share screen.  You then tap on a person in the picture and answer the on-screen question. “Who’s this?” You select their name from the drop down menu or you can search for the person. You can also share a picture you’ve already taken by going to the photo and selecting “Add People.”

When you share the photo, the person’s name appears on it. You can also use the service to tag brands such as the name of a restaurant you’re visiting.

You can only tag your own photos

Unlike Facebook, you can only tag photos that you’ve taken. You can’t tag another person’s photo even if you’re in it.

Privacy and notification

If your photos are public (that’s the default but you can post privately if you wish) than anyone can see the photo and the tag. If you post privately, then the photo and the tag will only be seen by people you have approved as followers.

You need access to a picture to be notified if you’re tagged

If you are posting publicly or if the person you’ve tagged is following you, than that person will be notified. But it’s important to note that if you are tagged by a private poster that you’re not following, you will not be notified, you won’t be able to see picture or the tag even though all of that person’s followers will see both the photo and the tag. This policy is the same as the way Instagram handles @Mentions, which shows up in status or comments. If you are tagged and have access to the picture, you can untag yourself.

Photos you are tagged in will also appear on your profile by default. You have the option of changing your settings so that you have to manually approve a photo before it’s posted on your profile but just because a photo isn’t on your profile doesn’t mean it’s  invisible. It is still accessible to people who follow the person who posted it.  You can change the settig as follows:

You can also manually hide any photo from your profile by clicking on it, tapping your name and clicking “Hide from My Profile.”

Untagging 

If you have access to the picture, you can untag (Remove) yourself form a photo as follows:

1. Tap … below the photo
2. Tap Photo Options
3. Tap More Options
4. Tap “Remove Me From Photo”

Blocking and reporting

You can keep anyone from tagging (the correct term is “adding”) to you a picture by blocking them. Once a person is blocked they can’t tag you or @mention you but of course they can still put up pictures of you and there are other ways of entering your name so this is not a full-proof way of preventing people from putting up pictures of you that you might not like.

If you feel that a photo is bullying or harrassing or otherwise violates Instagram’s terms of service, you can report it to their support department by taping  the … below the phot0 and tapping “Report Inappropriate.”

Facebook and Instagram are different

Although Instagram is owned by Facebook, the services have different policies and different terms of service. For example, while both Facebook and Instagram require uers to be 13 or older, Instagram does not ask for a user’s date of birth on signup, though anyone reported and found to be under 13 will have their account deleted.

With Facebook, you can tag anyone and you are notified when you’re tagged even if the person tagging isn’t your friend, Instagram has a different policy in that it only notifies you if the person is posting publicly or if you are following them.  Here is Instagram’s privacy policy and here’s Facebook’s Data Use Policy

Privacy Tips

• Instagram gives you the option of posting privately so that only people who you approve can follow you. If you post that way, your content is invisible to everyone else (but if someone tags or “Adds” to you a photo it’s still visible even if they don’t follow you and you don’t follow them).
• You also have the option of turning off location so that people don’t know where you were when the picture was taken.
• You can block people who you feel might harass or bully you or who you simply don’t want to hear from or to see your content. People who are blocked can’t add you
• You can turn off “Auto Add” so that you get to approve who adds or tags you in a picture
• You can report or flag any photo or comment that you consider to be inappropriate for review by Instagram staff

Advice to parents

Instagram is very popular among teens and — even though it’s against the rules — I’m sure there are some preteens using it as well. Kids need to understand how to use Instragram’s privacy features but mostly need to think about what is and isn’t appropriate to photograph, share and pass around to others.   For more on safety, security and privacy for kids and teens, visit  ConnectSafely.org and SafeKids.com – both sites that I help operate.

This post is adapted from one that appeared on Forbes.com

The original post was published in September 2010 but has now been updated here.

Instagram today introduced its new “Photos of You” feature that allows users to tag people in photos (read more)

Read this post at Forbes.com

Snapchat creates perishable pictures

You may have heard about Snapchat, the mobile app that allows users to capture videos and pictures that self destruct after a few seconds.  When a user sends a message they get to decide whether it will live for between 1 and 10 seconds. After that it’s history, probably.

Screen capture is possible

Even though Snapchat doesn’t support saving received messages, Smartphone operating systems like Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android do allow you to capture the screen. And, as retro as this might seem, it’s also possible to take a picture of the screen with another camera — such as a friend’s cell phone camera. Snapchat tries to notify the person taking the picture if it determines that the screen has been captured.

Sexting worries

There have been all sorts of press reports about Snapchat being used for “sexting” — taking naked or sexually suggestive pictures of yourself and sending them to someone else. And some worry that — because of screen capture — these pictures could wind up being circulated on the Internet.  While it is certainly possible to use Snapchat to send out inappropriate pictures, that’s not the primary use-case for the app.  I don’t know of any formal studies on how kids and others are using Snapchat, but I do know that lots of people use it for all sorts of images that have nothing to do with sex or nudity.

Snapchat lets you set the amount of time before a picture self-destructs between 1 and 10 seconds

Snapchat lets you set the amount of time before a picture self-destructs between 1 and 10 seconds

Regarding nudity, in his appearance at at All Things D Dive into Mobile in April, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel said “I don’t think that’s how the service is used typically,” according to The Verge’s live blog of the talk. “Usage falls off by 11PM,” he said. He added that “it’s not a great way to send inappropriate content.”  At the event last month, Spiegel said that there are about 150 million photos shared via Snapchat daily.

Having fun with their clothes on

But just because most teens and others aren’t sending out naked pictures, doesn’t mean that they’re not having fun with the service. There are all sorts of things people like to share for immediate consumption, ranging from wacky facial expressions to pictures of a meal they’re about to eat. It’s a way to share a moment with a specific friend and — in a way — a bit of an antidote to traditional social networking which is, well, kind of permanent. In fact, the motivation for creating the service – Spiegel told me and my ConnectSafely.org co-director Anne Collier in a phone conversation — was to create a service that provided more privacy than Facebook on other social networks. Having said that, Spiegal is of course aware that it’s possible to capture a screen, even though it’s not the norm for Snapchat users.

Snapchat guide for parents

Because parents are concerned, Snapchat brought in a leading outside safety expert to help them create a Snachat Guide for Parents ”to provide parents with detailed  information about our product, as well as suggestions for how to handle issues and concerns that may arise.”

You can block a user on Snapchat

The guide explains:

• Snapcat is not for children under 13. Children under 13 are prohibited but since Snapchat doesn’t ask for age on signup, parents or others need to report if a child under 13 is using it.
• To send a message to someone on Snapchat you need to know their user name and add them to your “My Friends” list.
• By default anyone who knows your username or phone number can send you a message, but you can configure Snapchat to only accept messages from people on your friends list.
• You can block a user by finding their name in your friends list, swiping to the right on iOS or long-pressing in Android and selecting Edit.

Advice for parents

My advice for parents is to talk with your kids about Snapchat, Instagram and other photo-sharing apps. Don’t lecture them, don’t panic and don’t expect the worst.  Just ask them if they use these apps and what they’re doing with them. Chances are your kid already knows not to do anything really stupid, but it never hurts to calmly impart a little adult wisdom.

Links:

Snapchat Guide for Parents

Snapchat: Privacy as perishable as the photos (by Anne Collier)

Tech teens loving ‘Snapchat,’ what parents need to know

Download Snapchat on iTunes

Download Snapchat on Google Play

The Federal Trade Commission has issued some “Frequently Asked Questions” about the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) based on amended rules that go into effect on July 1st. Click here to see the FAQ.

“The primary goal of COPPA,” wrote the FTC in the FAQ, “is to place parents in control over what information is collected from their young children (under 13) online.”

The Rule, according to the agency, “applies to operators of commercial Web sites and online services (including mobile apps) directed to children under 13 that collect, use, or disclose personal information from children, and operators of general audience Web sites or online services with actual knowledge that they are collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children under 13.”

The document covers issues including COPPA enforcement, privacy policies and notifications, geolocation data, verifiable parental consent and COPPA in schools.

Operators covered by the Rule must:

• Post a clear and comprehensive online privacy policy describing their information practices for personal information collected online from children;
•  Provide direct notice to parents and obtain verifiable parental consent, with limited exceptions, before collecting personal information online from children;
•  Give parents the choice of consenting to the operator’s collection and internal use of a child’s information, but prohibiting the operator from disclosing that information to third parties (unless disclosure is integral to the site or service, in which case, this must be made clear to parents);
• Provide parents access to their child’s personal information to review and/or have the information deleted;
• Give parents the opportunity to prevent further use or online collection of a child’s personal information;
• Maintain the confidentiality, security, and integrity of information they collect from children, including by taking reasonable steps to release such information only to parties capable of maintaining its confidentiality and security; and
• Retain personal information collected online from a child for only as long as is necessary to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected and delete the information using reasonable measures to protect against its unauthorized access or use.

(Source: Federal Trade Commission)

COPPA Not a panacea

It’s important for parents to understand that COPPA is about keeping children from providing personally identifiable information to commercial sites, but not about online safety. COPPA compliance in no way means that the site is safe or appropriate for young children.

Also, age determination is based on what date of birth the user enters. If children lie about their, the sites is not responsible to verify their age nor is there any magic technology that can determine a users actual age.

Sites, apps and services that are aimed at a general audience are not required to ask people their age so parents should not be lurred into a false sense of security that their children are “protected” in all situations.

Parents help kids lie about their age

One consequence of COPPA is that some sites, including Facebook and many other social networking services, ban children under 13. Yet many children get on them anyway. This isn’t necessarily dangerous but does violate the intention of COPPA.

A study conducted in 2011 found that millions of children under 13 access Facebook by entering in a false date of birth, many with help from their parents.  Nearby a fifth (19 percent) of the parents of 10-year-olds acknowledged that their child was on Facebook. About a third (32 percent) of parents of 11-year-olds knew their kid was on it. And the same was true for more than half (55 percent) of parents of 12-year-olds. Each of these kids had to lie to get an account.

For kids who were under 13 at the time they signed up, 68 percent of the parents “indicated that they helped their child create the account.” Among 10-year-olds on Facebook, a whopping 95 percent of parents were aware their kids were using the service and 78 percent helped create the account.

Since many under-13 children are on sites like Facebook, it’s important for parents to talk with their kids about appropriate use of these services, even if they are under the required age. That isn’t to suggest that we should condone kids lying about their age, but we need to be realistic and do what we can to be sure that kids understand how to protect their own privacy and reputations when using these services.

Also see:

Unintended Consequences of FTC’s New COPPA Children’s Online Privacy Rules

Zuckerberg Was Right: Why Facebook Should Welcome Kids Under 13

Complying with COPPA: Frequently Asked Questions (from the FTC)

LAPD is one of the agencies that uses Nixle to send alerts

Google and Nixle are working together to help people better respond to emergency situations in their communities and schools.

Emergency alerts, about crimes in progress, lock-downs, natural disasters, missing children and other events will now show up when people do relevant searches on Google web search, maps and Google Now:

• Google Search: Search a location or keyword triggering an active Nixle alert, the alert will be visible at the top of search results with the ablity to click for more information.
• Google Maps: Search a location on Google Maps and the active Nixle alert will be pinned to that geography.
• Google Now: Android phones within the affected community will display the Nixle alert directly on the phone through Google Now

(Source Nixle)

San Francisco-based Nixle is a public safety communications platform used by more than 6,500 public service agencies including police, fire departments and emergency management services.  The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (where I serve as a board member) uses Nixle for missing children alerts as a supplement to its Amber alerts.

Schools too

Nixle also works with schools, according to spokesperson Jim Gatta, who use the service to notify parents and other community members on a wide range of issues from day-to-day event notifications to school lock-downs  Nixle also provides schools and police departments with anonymous reporting systems for crimes, bullying or potential self-harm.

(Disclosure: I’m co-director of ConnectSafely.org, a non-profit Internet safety organization that receives financial support from Google).

In the wake of Facebook’s new Home phone software, Larry Magid uses his CBS News/CNET Tech Talk segment, Larry Magid to explore Internet addiction with “Mediatrician” Dr. Michael Rich.

For me, including a link to the entire Michael Rich interview, see Facebook ‘phone’ could be one more distraction in a world full of them.

by Bruno Galera
Guest blogger & Dell employee

(Editors note: The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and not necessarily of SafeKids.com. For a slightly different perspective on parental controls, see Internet filters have their place, but not for all kids)

Bruno Galera

There are some parents out there that are just as Internet and computer-savvy as the next person, but then there are the rest of us who might feel that our children know more about our own devices and how to work them, than we do.

If you relate more to the latter, you probably found that you’re not very comfortable with your child surfing the net openly, freely creating social profiles, gaming online, or, maybe you’re not comfortable with any of it because of how foreign it is to you.  Whether you feel that you know what kinds of tasks your children are able to perform online or not, there are safety measures that should be implemented either way.

Software Protection

Though communication is probably the most conducive move in monitoring your child’s everyday activities there are other measures that, in this day in age, are necessities when talking about child safety online.  Threats can present themselves even when they are not being searched out and these can sometimes be the most dangerous.

Nowadays you can’t even buy a computer without being presented with several online protection options that come standard with the set up. But now there are options that are extremely advanced and so explicit that some of the systems are furnished specifically with your child and families’ safety in mind.

Author Jesse Schwarz reminds us that Internet service providers allow for control over some content, but there are also certain parental control options that we will be smart to utilize in conjunction.  For example, the computers with Windows 8 have an operating system from Microsoft that has the ability to set up parental controls specifically for Internet browsing.  Click here for Jesse’s hands-on steps for using these controls.

Also, Windows 8 makes it possible to set up individual user accounts that can each be monitored very closely. With this function, every member in the family can have his or her own account while the master account is able to monitor the others in as much or as little depth as deemed necessary.

Activity reports will be reported that will permit monitoring or even eliminating certain activities online. With the “family safety” option (found in your Windows 8 user account set up) you can modify Internet activity by controlling website access, setting time limits for computer use, blocking unwanted sites or even specifying the sites that your children are allowed to access.

Obviously the age of your child will determine how closely they are monitored, but understanding these options will ultimately reduce the risks that your child faces everyday online. These computers will also allow you to control files that are downloaded.

Using the “Block File Downloads” option will help prevent downloading that doesn’t meet your approval. There are also many other options out there that can filter emails, instant messaging, and video material based on unknown addresses, descriptive text, words or phrases, and tags.

Aside from the risk of stumbling onto an unwanted site, there are also the constant security threats that lie in wait and are undetectable until they have already gotten what they came for. Windows 8 offers some of the most recent groundbreaking security improvements specifically catered to this type of needed protection.

Communication is Key

David Miles, European director of the Family and Online Safety Institute (FOSI) states that “the nature of the threats [online] are changing…two years ago we were dealing with a search-oriented culture that was adult dominated…now we are in a world of user-generated content, it’s no longer an adult-only environment.”

What we can gather from this, is that no matter how much control we may feel we have or want over our children with respect to the Internet, we can’t put a stop to it – unless, of course, we are willing to renounce all comforts of modern life and disconnect completely. Since the likelihood of that happening is slim to none, I would suggest taking alternative measures.

First, set up the system protection options mentioned above. Then, buckle down and set aside all feelings of being threatened by your child’s knowledge of technology and get prepared to learn something from them. If you can do this, it can open up lines of communication that may have been blocking your understanding of their involvement online in the first place.

Carrie Longton, co-founder of Mumsnet, suggests having your child walk you through setting up an online profile or showing you how to surf the web, and, most importantly, let the humiliation flow!  Children don’t like to feel threatened by their parents control tactics any more than parents enjoy implementing them. In this environment, trust can be built while you let them teach you something.  It’s a win, win.

If you feel inadequate in your knowledge of technology, now is the time to learn. Keep the communication open and don’t forget to utilize the user friendly options available that come standard with computers like the all-in-one. With operating systems like Windows 8, you can rest assured that your family will be safer online than ever before.

How do you keep your kids safe online? Share your ideas and solutions below.

Bruno Galera works for Dell and has a passion for technology. When he’s not reading about the latest industry trends, you can find him cooking, reading, cheering on his favorite football team or at a museum enjoying contemporary art and photography.

Cover story looks at theimpact of digital technology on young child development

If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend The Atlantic article, The Touch-Screen Generation by Hanna Rosin.  Rosin presents an in-depth and somewhat reassuring look at the way very young children use tablets, pointing out that toddlers don’t have to be taught how to use an iPad. “The connection is obvious,” she writes.

While recognizing that excessive use of technology ”is a real problem,” she largely debunks the notion that technology is necessarily harmful or addictive for young children “If your child shows signs of having an addictive personality, you will probably know it,” she said. She also calls into question the American Academy of Pediatrics updated policy about “screen time” where it applies the same recommendation for interactive technology that it advises for passive TV, recommending that it be avoided for children under 2. But even children’s TV, said Rosin, has evolved so that some shows now contain pauses so that kids can react and interact.

As with most things, it strikes me as a matter of balance. A steady diet of technology (or for that matter, books, baseball or any other single activity) is almost certainly not a good thing, but moderate use of technology — including tablets for toddlers — has not proven to be harmful.  As with everything, parental involvement with young children remains a remedy against a lot of maladies and that includes parents using the technology with their children — not using it as an electronic babysitter.

Here’s a PBS NewsHour interview with Rosin. Also check out the video embedded in The Atlantic article.

Watch Tech-Savvy Toddlers Go for Tablets Over Teddy Bears on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

By Katie Johnson
Awareity
Guest blogger

Katie Johnson

The discussion on school safety is being held at every school and community across the Nation.  The end goal is the same, ensuring the safety of every young child and staff member within the school.  But, how we get there is up for debate.

One of the most common solutions being offered by many is to implement armed security guards or provide weapons to teachers/staff – after all as the NRA said, the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

However, even good guys with guns can sometimes inadvertently lead to dangerous situations as we have seen recently in the news:

School Employee Shot During Gun Training:

SRO Accidentally Fires Gun at NY High School:

Security Guard Forgets Gun in School Bathroom

Bringing more guns into schools also creates added liability and potentially higher insurance costs for schools.  Your school does not want to face a lawsuit after one of the teacher’s guns accidentally discharges and wounds a staff member or student!  You may want to review this recent article from Risk and Insurance Magazine:

If schools do decide to implement armed guards or staff at schools, it is absolutely critical these staff members are trained extensively on gun safety and procedures are implemented to help ensure accidents like those above do not occur.

Instead of giving weapons to staff in part of the plan of how to REACT when an armed intruder enters the building, what if schools instead focus (their plans and funding) on ways to PREVENT an intruder from even coming to the school in the first place.

Schools and communities need to implement prevention strategies to identify potentially troubled or at-risk students so they can get in front of tragedy.  Identifying red flags and concerning behaviors prior to a student carrying through with an attack is critical.  As many have mentioned before and the Department of Education’s Safe School Initiative clearly revealed, students don’t just “snap” one day.  School attacks are pre-meditated and planned and over 80% of the time, someone else knows about it.  So, we need to provide that someone else with the tools to tell the right people what they know!  And, once that information is shared, schools need to have clearly defined policies and procedures for investigating the information, sharing necessary details with law enforcement, and effectively intervening with the student.

Katie Johnson is the Director of Client Services and Marketing for Awareity, a leading provider of risk management, incident reporting and prevention platforms.  To learn more visit www.awareity.com or www.tipsprevent.com.