Dave and Bill  

Show Notes

• Archived Blog Post

  Date / Time: 10/17/2008 4:44 AM UTC

  Larry Magid, Yahoo Kids Blogger Meets The CyberHood Watch Partners
  

  Privacy is relative. So, when you say you want to protect your personal information, what is it we we’re protecting ourselves from?

  Larry uses the analogy of flying to Salt Lake City incognito. He wants his trip to be private. Is it really private? The airlines know, his credit card company knows, Homeland Security knows, so is he really keeping it private.

  If someone wants to know they can take extraordinary methods to find out.

  What we really want is to keep our personal information private from criminal activity or hackers. That can be accomplished best by using a managed security service which uses professional grade technologies coupled with professional IT security support.

  However, even with the best technologies and support nothing is guaranteed. It’s possible for large corporation to be hacked who store your personal information. Even then you need to be responsible for your own Internet security, when you can, or contract it out with a service that will do it for you.

  Larry talked about how the SafeTeens website addresses teens and parents on how to look at their own personal misbehavior or misjudgment on how they act online.

  Another website, SafeKids teaches parents how to protect young children and keep them safe. One great tool provided is a two-way contract between the children and their parents. Another tool provided is the “search box” which acts as a pre-filter which helps eliminate surfing into inappropriate sites by accident.

  The newest site, ConnectSafely is an interactive site for parents, guardians, and teens to ask questions, view videos, and to join a forum where you can ask questions about your concerns, what to do and how to do it, when dealing with Internet issues.

  The world of online and offline doesn’t exist separately any longer, especially for the New Net-Generation. Your children and many young adults have integrated technology, the internet, and social networking as part of their identity. The CyberHood Watch partners, Dave & Bill, are integrated into the social network of the Internet. It’s not a full description of who we are but, it is a slice of who we are and what we represent.

  If you want to connect to your children and understand a part of their new Net-Generation realize what you see on the Internet is partly a mirror reflection of their real world. Talk to your children, embrace the Internet, and have them share what they know about the Internet with you. Have them help you set up a Facebook account and talk to them about your concerns, interject the principles of civility, showing respect to one another.

  Larry shared several key points when it comes to being responsible cybercitizens:

  ·        Critical thinking

  ·        Personal information is personal

  ·        Protect your security and passwords

  ·        Don’t talk about or have sexually oriented conversations

  ·        Avoid meeting in person those you meet online

  ·        Be civil

  ·        Use good judgment when posting videos and video cell phones

  We asked about Google Chrome – you can read Larry’s recent post at: PC Answer.

  We also talked about Cloud computing, which will have an enormous impact on the future of many devices, such as the mobile devices like the iPhone. However, it’s my belief with these new developments will come new challenges and one for sure will be wireless security. Wi-Fi wireless networks will play an important role in expanding the social networking among the new Net-Generation mobile community. Unfortunately, it will expand faster than expected and without preparations for its lack of security.

  As Larry called it, “The thin client”, meaning the hardware and mobile devices will be less powerful and the power will be in the “Cloud”. Our concern needs to address the weak link. I see that as when data leaves your device and transmitted to another device. It’s that in between transferring that your information is vulnerable.

  One tip that Larry personally uses is a category of passwords. For example, Larry uses one password for his newspapers that he reads online, a second category are passwords used his email accounts and most other sites that he visits. The final category is phrase passwords for his financial and health accounts.

  Like Larry said, when it comes to the best security tips they are, “Parents need to be parents, trust your kids, be a family, sit down and have dinner together, go for a walk together, and remember it’s a two-way street.”

  Be sure to visit KidsYahoo

  • Tags:
  • Larry Magid
  • Yahoo
  • SafeTeens
  • SafeKids
  • ConnectSafely
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