Comments on slight paranoia: Online worlds for kids lack basic privacy

i think people care alot too much about internet s...

2009-08-29T16:01:38.057-04:00

i think people care alot too much about internet security for kids, in terms of swearing at least. your just as likely to hear a swear in school as you are on an internet world thing, both of which your told not to.

Even if corporations kept records of what children...

2009-05-02T23:10:00.000-04:00

Even if corporations kept records of what children are doing, as they are with Neopets (which I used to play before), how would the corporations relay that message to the parents? Meaning does it really matter if the corporations are keeping track, since the parents will probably never be able to see this information. And if they did, how would the parents and the corporations establish networks to relay that info?

I agree with you about parents not monitoring thei...

2009-04-25T12:21:00.000-04:00

I agree with you about parents not monitoring their children's online activities, especially nowadays when children are often much more digitally savvy than parents. Such is the case with my younger siblings, but they're past the Club Penguin stage.

I often wonder what the long-term effects of these types of surveillance will be. Will adults running for office someday be held accountable for something derogatory they said as a child on Club Penguin or MySpace? The more I think about it, the size of the amassed digital dossiers of this first generation of Internet kids is staggering and, regrettably, troubling.

Christopher, thanks for clarifying you're not a pa...

2009-04-24T23:46:00.000-04:00

Christopher, thanks for clarifying you're not a parent. Until a parent sees their child's facebook page, they have little idea about what's going on in cyberspace. Parents NEED to keep tabs on their children's Internet activity. But should corporations be allowed to do so without the expressed written consent of a parent of a minor?

Mike, I don't have any kids -- so perhaps I don't...

2009-04-20T22:08:00.000-04:00

Mike,

I don't have any kids -- so perhaps I don't know what I'm talking about. However, I personally think it is wrong for parents to spy on their children. It is one thing to use filtering software to stop them from going to 'bad' parts of the Internet, but it is another to monitor their every move online.

In my world view, kids deserve privacy too. Many others don't agree with me on this point, and thats ok.

Very good points, and I think this deserves more a...

2009-04-20T16:17:00.000-04:00

Very good points, and I think this deserves more attention. I do have one question about one of your comments in the post. I am a long time reader of your blog, and I tend to agree with most all of your points. When you said "you don't agree with parents installing keylogger/spysoftware on their children's computer", could you explain your reasons on this? It is something I have pondered about quite a bit and would like to hear your take on it. Thanks, Mike