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The Next Great Technopanic: Wireless Geo-Location / Social Mapping

by Adam Thierer on July 12, 2008 · 30 comments

A few days ago, I posted an essay about the recent history of “moral panics,” or “technopanics,” as Alice Marwick refers to them in her brilliant new article about the recent panic over MySpace and social networking sites in general.

I got thinking about technopanics again today after reading the Washington Post’s front-page article, “When the Phone Goes With You, Everyone Else Can Tag Along.” In the piece, Post staff writer Ellen Nakashima discusses the rise of mobile geo-location technologies and services, which are becoming more prevalent as cell phones grow more sophisticated. These services are often referred to as “LBS,” which stands for “location-based services.”

Many of phones and service plans offered today include LBS technologies, which are very useful for parents like me who might want to monitor the movement of their children. Those same geo-location technologies can be used for other LBS purposes. Geo-location technologies are now being married to social networking utilities to create an entirely new service and industry: “social mapping.” Social mapping allows subscribers to find their friends on a digital map and then instantly network with them. Companies such as Loopt and Helio have already rolled out commercial social mapping services. Loopt has also partnered with major carriers to roll out its service nationwide, including the new iPhone 3G. It is likely that many other rivals will join these firms in coming months and years.

These new LBS services present exciting opportunities for users to network with friends and family, and it also open up a new world of commercial / advertising opportunities. Think of how stores could offer instantaneous coupons as you walk by their stores, for example. And very soon, you can imagine a world were many of our traditional social networking sites and services are linked into LBS tools in a seamless fashion. But as today’s Washington Post article notes, mobile geo-location and social mapping is also raising some privacy concerns: Continue reading →

30 comments

Forbes on “Making Social [Networking] Sites Safer”

by Adam Thierer on May 15, 2008 · 9 comments

Wendy Tanaka of Forbes penned a nice article this week on “Making Social Sites Safer,” as in social networking sites. She interviews many members of the new Internet Safety Technical Task Force that is being chaired by John Palfrey of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. Wendy was also kind enough to call me for some comments.

Wendy wanted to know how far technology could go to solve online safety concerns. Specifically, as she notes in her piece, “The discussions have centered on whether identity technologies can make social sites safer, or whether consumer education works best. State attorneys general believe more technological solutions are necessary, but some task force members contend that identity technologies on the market aren’t adequate. And even if they were better, they likely can’t prevent every unwanted incident and they could block contact between friends and relatives.”

On that point, I told her that, even if the age verification technology worked as billed (and I have my doubts), we’d have other issues to grapple with:

“So, if he’s 16 and she’s 21, they shouldn’t talk? Maybe they’re brother and sister,” says Adam Thierer, a senior fellow at the Progress and Freedom Foundation. Thierer also says that too many checks and restrictions could turn off users and hamper advertising on social networks. “There’s only so far the sites can go before undermining their business and cutting off their customer base,” he says. “At some point, it becomes an annoyance for users.”

What I meant by that is that there is a balance that must be struck between security and freedom on social networking sites because, if lawmakers (or even the site operators themselves) push too far and add too many layers of controls, their could be adverse consequences. In particular, users could flock elsewhere, including to offshore sites that have no safety guidelines or mechanisms in place. That would be a troubling outcome that could leave site users far less safe in the long-run. As I have pointed out in my big paper, “Social Networking and Age Verification: Many Hard Questions; No Easy Solutions,“Whatever their concerns are about current domestic sites, parents and policy makers should understand that those sites are generally more accountable and visible than offshore sites over which we have virtually no influence but that have the same reach as domestic sites.”

Moreover, we need to be aware of the privacy and speech-related issues that arise when governments seek for force users to surrender the online anonymity. I have written more extensively about that issue in my essay here on “Age Verification and Death of Online Anonymity.”

Finally, as I told Wendy, there is no substitute for education and awareness-building efforts as the real solution to these problems. “There are no easy technical fixes for complex human behavioral problems,” I told her. “We need to teach kids ‘Netiquette.’ ” That is, we need to do a better job teaching our kids proper online manners toward their peers while also making sure they understand what risks are out there and how best to deal with them.

Anyway, make sure to read Wendy’s Forbes article for additional insights from other Task Force members.

9 comments

“Parental Controls and Online Child Protection” – Version 3.0 release

by Adam Thierer on March 26, 2008 · 3 comments

PFF has just releasing an updated edition of my booklet on “Parental Controls and Online Child Protection: A Survey of Tools & Methods.” The new version, Version 3.0, includes two new appendixes and updates to each section to reflect new parental control tools and programs developed in the last nine months.

The updated report is timely as it comes on the heels of the recently-announced Internet Safety Technical Task Force, which is being chaired by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. I am privileged to serve as a member of the Task Force, which is evaluating various online safety technologies and strategies and then reporting back to state attorneys general with our findings.

Those issues and much more are covered in the latest edition of my report. The report explores the market for parental control tools, rating schemes, education efforts, and initiatives aimed at promoting online child safety. I believe that the parental controls and content management tools cataloged in the report represent a better, less restrictive alternative to government regulation. As I conclude after evaluating that state of the market: “There has never been a time in our nation’s history when parents have had more tools and methods at their disposal to help them decide what constitutes acceptable media content in their homes and in the lives of their children.”

Version 3.0 of the special report, now over 200 pages, contains over fifty exhibits and numerous updates in all five sections of the book. Major updates have been made to the Internet, social networking, and mobile media sections, reflecting the growing importance of those sectors and issues. A greatly expanded section on video empowerment technologies has also been included. Finally, two appendices have also been added: a comprehensive legislative index cataloging over thirty bills introduced in Congress on these issues (complied with John Morris of Center for Democracy & Technology), and a glossary of 35 relevant terms and cases.

The report is available free-of-charge on the PFF website, as are the previous editions. And I am happy to provide hard copies to those who are interested.

http://documents.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=2887320&access_key=key-um5xjvf98bfnuu8811v&page=&version=1&auto_size=true

Parental Controls and Online Content Protection-Version 3 0 (Thierer-PFF) – Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: Parental Controls and Online Content Protection-Version 3 0 (Thierer-PFF)

3 comments

USA Today, age verification, and the death of online anonymity

by Adam Thierer on January 23, 2008 · 14 comments

The USA Today editorial board published a nasty piece today belittling MySpace.com’s recent efforts to implement more safeguards for its users. Despite the fact that MySpace made over 70 promises to the Attorneys General as part of the agreement–the entire agreement is summarized here–that’s still not good enough for the USA Today’s editorial board, which wants full-blown identity verification before anyone is allowed on a social networking site:

“Even in the absence of a perfect software solution, interim steps are possible. How about using databases of drivers’ licenses to cross-check ages? In more than 20 states, they are public records. The point is, more effective safeguards are needed now, …. MySpace [should be] moving faster to set up age and ID verifications, not just study them.”

Well, where do I begin? I get so frustrated when I see comments like this because it is abundantly clear to me that people don’t think things through when it comes to age verification. As I pointed out in my lengthy PFF report, “Social Networking and Age Verification: Many Hard Questions; No Easy Solutions,” age verification is extremely complicated, and it would be even more complicated in this case because public officials are demanding the age verification of minors as well as adults, which presents a wide array of special challenges and concerns.

What Age Verification Really Is: The Death of Online Anonymity We need to begin by understanding what age verification really is. By definition, mandatory age verification represents an effort to make online anonymity a crime. In simple terms, citizens would be forced to “show their papers” at the door of every website or else run the risk of being denied access–simply because they do not want to surrender their name or age.

Think about what that means. It’s easy to take the benefits of online anonymity for granted. There are millions of people who comment anonymously on blogs like this one every day, or write anonymous book or product reviews on Amazon.com or eBay, or who just chat with others about various topics under the cloak of anonymity. It is a wonderful thing.

Continue reading →

14 comments

Today’s MySpace-AG Agreement

by Adam Thierer on January 14, 2008 · 3 comments

This morning in New York City, social networking website operator MySpace.com announced a major joint effort with 49 state Attorneys General aimed at better protecting children online. (Coverage at CNet, NYT and Forbes). At a joint press conference, MySpace and the AGs unveiled a “Joint Statement on Key Principles of Social Networking Safety” involving expanded online safety tools, improved education efforts, and law enforcement cooperation. They also agreed to create an industry-wide Internet Safety Technical Task Force to study online safety tools, including a review of online identity authentication technology. Generally speaking, the agreement is step forward for online safety. Indeed, many of the principles in the agreement could form a potential model “code of conduct” that other social networking sites could adopt. In a report I authored for the Progress & Freedom Foundation in August 2006, I argued that it was vital for companies and trade associations to take steps such as this to avoid the specter of government regulation or censorship:

All companies doing business online… must show policymakers and the general public that they are serious about addressing [online safety] concerns. If companies and trade associations do not step up to the plate and meet this challenge soon—and in a collective fashion—calls will only grow louder for increased government regulation of online speech and activities. What is needed is a voluntary code of conduct for companies doing business online. This code of conduct, or set of industry “best practices,” would be based on a straight-forward set of principles and policies that could be universally adopted by [a] wide variety of operators…

In particular, this code of conduct proposal called for companies to make specific pledges regarding improved online safety tools, expanded education / media literacy efforts, and ongoing assistance to law enforcement regarding investigations of online crimes.

Continue reading →

3 comments

Parental Control Perfection

by Adam Thierer on October 11, 2007 · 0 comments

PFF has just released my latest paper entitled “Parental Control Perfection? The Impact of the DVR and VOD Boom on the Debate over TV Content Regulation.” In the report, I focus on the extent to which new video technologies, such as digital video recorders (DVRs) and video on demand (VOD) services, are changing the way households consume media and are helping parents better tailor viewing experiences to their tastes and values. I provide evidence showing the rapid spread of these technologies and discuss how parents are using these tools in their homes. Finally, I argue that these developments will have profound implications for debates over the regulation of video programming. As parents are given the ability to more effectively manage their family’s viewing habits and experiences, it will lessen—if not completely undercut—the need for government intervention on their behalf.

This 16-page report can be found at: http://www.pff.org/issues-pubs/pops/pop14.20DVRboomcontentreg.pdf

0 comments

Age Verification Showdown in North Carolina

by Adam Thierer on July 26, 2007 · 2 comments

As Braden mentioned, we were both down in Raleigh, North Carolina this week testifying at a big hearing on mandatory age verification for social networking sites.

It was quite a heated battle. The legislation, SB 132, was supported at the hearing by North Carolina attorney general Roy Cooper, several of his staff attorneys, a couple of NC senate lawmakers, and some folks from Aristotle, a company that claims it has devised a workable age verification solution for social networking purposes. A vote on the proposal was delayed and we’re still awaiting the final outcome.

Down below, I have attached the outline of my remarks in which I argued that age verification mandates would actually make kids less safe online. Here’s why:

Continue reading →

2 comments

Transcript of PFF Age Verification (3/23) event

by Adam Thierer on May 13, 2007

In late March, I hosted a congressional seminar entitled “Age Verification for Social Networking Sites: Is It Possible? And Desirable?” I brought together 5 experts in the field to debate the issue, including:

John Cardillo, President & CEO, Sentinel
Jay Chaudhuri, Special Counsel to North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper
Raye Croghan, Vice President, IDology, Inc.
Tim Lordan, Executive Director, Internet Education Foundation
Jeff Schmidt, CEO, Authis

It was an outstanding discussion and I’m happy to report that the transcript is now available online here. Also, you can listen to the audio from the event here. Also, you can find the big study of mine that we discussed that day here.

http://documents.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=2887394&access_key=key-18jii1mp0o9wovvaijjs&page=&version=1&auto_size=true

Age Verification for Social Networking Sites (PFF event transcript) – Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: Age Verification for Social Networking Sites (PFF event transcript)

New York Times article on Age Verification for Social Networking Sites

by Adam Thierer on May 7, 2007

Jennifer Medina of the New York Times penned an article yesterday on the debate over social networking fears leading to calls for age verification mandates. She noted that measures are moving in several states that would require social networking sites to age-verify users before they are allowed to visit the sites or create profiles there. But Medina also noted that there are many difficult questions about how age verification would work and how “social networking” would even be defined. (I summarize these questions in my recent PFF report, “Social Networking and Age Verification: Many Hard Questions; No Easy Solutions.”)

Ms. Medina was also kind enough to interview me for the story and she summarizes some of what I had to say in her piece. In a nutshell, I stressed that the most effective way to deal with this problem is to get serious about dealing with sex offenders instead of trying to regulate law-abiding citizens. We need to be locking up convicted sex offenders for a lot longer in this country to make sure they behind bars instead of behind keyboards seeking to prey on our children.

I also stressed the importance of online safety education as part of the strategy here. But my comments on that didn’t make the cut in the story. But you can read my big recent paper on this issue for additional details.

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