June Is Internet Safety Month

It's Internet Safety Month!

Every month parents and children should be implementing their online safety skills, however we recognize that June is the month that we should take extra time to learn more about what's going on with your child's digital lives by going dark!

That's it!  Go Dark for Dinner is the campaign for June - it's all about unplugging and actually communicating.  Offline parenting is key to online safety.  It's key for your child making better online choices they are faced with daily; especially in times when you can't be there.

Think about Internet Safety Month as a time to disconnect and connect at the dinner table.  Chat about your digital lives and your offline lives.  Get to know each other -- in real life!

Frienedy: A Social Media Site for All Ages

Frienedy is the first site of its kind that lets users of all ages manage life in groups. Engineered with parental permissions at the core, the company has created a private online environment that leverages parental engagement for users under 13 to guide the social media experience. Frienedy offers users of all ages a web application that provides private group communication.

Until now, there has been a void in the social networking space both for users under age 13 as well as for managing content and social feeds for groups of all types.  

According to Founder and CEO, Janel Patterson, "Kids are getting online much younger than they were when today's social networking norms were first established, which has led to a rise in cyber bullying and cyber predators. Parents need a tool that enables them to proactively introduce social media to their children when they decide the time is right- and before kids go out and discover it themselves. At Frienedy, our core mission is to prevent cyber bullying before it starts and to eliminate the risk of children becoming victims of cyber predators."

There is also a market for managing social feeds and content for groups that have members of all ages. According to Jake Giganti, COO for Frienedy, "I grew up on social media. I never saw an easy way to manage all of the events and social feeds and basic information for every group I was part of growing up. Not just my soccer team and classes, but my different groups of friends. And, now as an adult, I have even more social groups I'm part of and need to stay engaged with. Frienedy Groups solves this problem- but more compellingly- for users of all ages." Groups can communicate privately and maintain practice or meeting schedules, classroom assignments, youth group activities, photos, videos, documents, even trigger last minute notifications. Frienedy is the way to manage all of this - and for younger users, under discreet parental oversight.  

Frienedy includes a robust events calendar for managing group events and a shopping list feature called WishList to promote user engagement. Mobile apps are currently in development, and the website is currently mobile responsive for any device. You can sign up for a free account by going to www.frienedy.com.

About Frienedy
Frienedy, LLC (www.frienedy.com) was founded in 2013 as a safe, private group networking community designed for users and groups of all ages. Frienedy complies with COPPA standards for users under 13, enabling a revolutionary new way for people of all ages to connect, share and interact safely and privately in all of life's Groups.

Contact: Janel Patterson
Frienedy, LLC
Phone: (636) 542-0540
Email: press@frienedy.com
URL: www.frienedy.com

Pause and Think Online Video Contest Winners!

Congratulations to our three Pause & Think Online Video Contest winners!

Common Sense Media was impressed with the creativity, the musicality, and the artistry exhibited in all three. Thank you to all of the students and teachers who submitted videos.
See all of the contest submissions here.

We are so proud of all the digital citizens! - Common Sense Media

Privacy in the Age of Big Data: Recognizing Threats, Defending Your Rights, and Protecting Your Family

By Theresa Payton and Ted Claypoole

Digital data collection and surveillance gets more pervasive and invasive by the day; but the best ways to protect yourself and your data are all steps you can take yourself. Digital devices make our lives easier, with just-in-time coupons, directions, and connection with loved ones while stuck on an airplane runway. Yet, these devices, though we love them, invade our privacy in ways we might not even be aware of. Our devices send and collect data about us whenever we use them, but that data is not safeguarded the way we assume it would be.

Privacy is complex and personal. Many of us do not know the full extent to which data is collected, stored, aggregated, and used. As recent revelations indicate, we are subject to a level of data collection and surveillance never before imaginable. While some of these methods may, in fact, protect us and provide us with information and services we deem to be helpful and desired, others can turn out to be insidious and over-arching.
Privacy in the Age of Big Data highlights the many positive outcomes of digital surveillance and data collection while also outlining those forms of data collection to which we may not consent, and of which we are likely unaware. Payton and Claypoole skillfully introduce readers to the many ways we are ‘watched,’ and how to adjust our behaviors and activities to recapture our privacy. The authors suggest the tools, behavior changes, and political actions we can take to regain data and identity security. Anyone who uses digital devices will want to read this book for its clear and no-nonsense approach to the world of big data and what it means for all of us.

Order on Amazon today!

Privacy and Security on Facebook

Source: BestComputerScienceSchools.net

According to an early 2013 report from ComScore.com, Facebook still maintains the lead for American user engagement for a single web site — averaging a minute short of 6.75 hours per user in the month of Mar 2013. While this number is a decline from the same period in 2012 (with an average of nearly 7.25 hours per user), it’s obvious that American Facebook users spend a considerable amount of time on the site — more than any other social media site — revealing facts both mundane and interesting about their lives — facts that might be of interest to other people and companies, including those with ill intent.

In fact, according to a study by Alessandro Acquisti discussed in a TED Talk, American employers often judge job candidates who post to social media more harshly than equally skilled candidates who did not post — regardless of whether posts were negative or positive or not even relevant to the potential employer. How potential employers find your Facebook information about you is beyond  the scope of this article, but we do cover some relevant security and privacy statistics and offer some tips to guard yourself.

The Facebook Facts
Please note: All statistics below refer to U.S. Facebook users unless specifically indicated.

• 1.26 — Number in billions of monthly active worldwide Facebook users  (as of  Oct 2013).
• 83 — Number in millions of fake profiles (worldwide; as of late Jun 2013).
• 7.5 — Approximate percentage of fake profiles (worldwide).
• 128 — Number in millions of daily active Facebook users (mid Aug 2013)
• 6 3/4 hours — Approximate average amount of time Facebook users spent on the site in Mar 2013.
• 101 — Approximate number in millions of Facebook users on mobile devices (app and mobile web browsers).
• 128 — Approximate total number in millions of Facebook users on both desktop computers and mobile devices.
• 78 — Approximate percentage of Facebook users who access the site on a mobile device.
• 76 — Percentage of smartphone market that Facebook reaches with their app (primarily) or via mobile web browsers.
• 23 — Percentage of time spent on mobile apps that is attributed to Facebook use.
• 303 — Approximate number of “friends” a Facebook user (12+ years old; worldwide) has in their network. This number varies significantly by age group. Research estimates have suggested numbers of 500+ for Facebook users in the 12-24 age range, but much less (low hundreds) for those in older age ranges.
• 245 — The average number of friends that U.S. users have in their Facebook network, according to a Pew Research study in early 2012.
• 600 — The approximate number of people that the average person knows overall (Facebook or otherwise), according to a New York Times report in early 2013. Note that other studies suggest a figure of 290.
• 25 — Percentage of Facebook users (worldwide) who do not look at or ignore their Facebook privacy settings (according to a 2012 Velocity Digital report).
• 71 — The number of countries whose individual governments made requests for user data to Facebook in the first six months of 2013.
• 25.6 — The approximate total number in thousands (actual: 25,607) of requests for data made to Facebook by various world governments in that six-month period.
• 11 — The number in thousands of data requests (minimum) that were made just by the U.S. government.  (U.S. data is reported as a range: 11,000-12,000.)
• 43 — The approximate percentage (actual: 42.96) of all data requests made just by the U.S. government.
• 38 — The approximate total number in thousands (actual: 37,954) of Facebook user accounts covered in those requests by all governments.
• 20 — The number in thousands of Facebook account data requests (minimum) made just by the U.S. government.  (U.S. data is reported as a range: 20,000-21,000.)
• 53 — The approximate percentage (actual: 52.70) of total account data requests made just by the U.S. government.
• 2.5 — Number in billions of photos uploaded to Facebook in a single month in 2010
• 30 — Percentage of photos in a study by Alessandro Aquisti in 2010 (taken of students on a college campus) that were identifiable by off-the-shelf facial recognition software. (Using data mining techniques, the researchers were also able to determine part of identified students’ Social Security numbers.)
• 10 — Percentage of anonymous online dating profiles identified via facial recognition software in another study by Aquisti.
• 43 — Percentage of employers (in a study of 2,100 hiring managers) who did not hire a job candidate after researching the latter’s social media profile.
• 600 — Number in thousands of Facebook logins (worldwide) that are compromised daily (late Oct 2011).
• 25 — Percentage of consumers whose online data has been breached who later become a victim of identity fraud.
• 2.78 — Percentage of homes in the U.S. (1 in 36) that will likely be burgled in 2013, according to an FBI 2012 crime report — with or without the help of social media tracking.
• 1,657 — Average loss in dollars per break-in.
• 25 — Percentage of teens who claim to have been stalked on Facebook.
• 55 — Percentage of teens who have given out personal info to strangers on Facebook.
• 24 — Percentage of teens who have had compromising information made public without their permission.
• 2.5 — Number of billions of new daily Facebook posts (worldwide).
• 67 — Percentage of teen users who know how to hide their online activity from parents.
• 10 — Percentage of children worldwide who experience cyberbullying.
• 52 — Percentage of teens not telling parents about being cyberbullied.
• 34 — Percentage of parents who check their children’s social network sites.

Top Five World Governments Requesting Facebook User Data
The following five countries made the most requests to Facebook in the first six months of 2013. (Note: United States data is reported in ranges. In the table below, only the minimum value of U.S. ranges is reported.)

Country	Minimum Requests	Minimum Accts Requested
United States	11000	20000
India	3245	4144
United Kingdom	1975	2337
Germany	1886	2068
Italy	1705	2306

6 Threats to Your Privacy and Security
Using Facebook incorrectly can expose you to a number of threats. Here’s an incomplete list:

1. Bullying — You think that your kids are safe at home from bullies? Unfortunately not, and some reports suggest that cyberbullied kids are 2-9 times more likely to commit suicide.
2. Stalking — Let’s face it; there are lots of creeps out there and one of them may be  stalking you or your children — which is made easier by the fact that more than half of teens give up personal info to strangers on Facebook.
3. Burglary — While the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics suggests home burglaries have declined since the 1970s, while make their efforts easier? Some burglars do monitor social media to determine which homes will be unoccupied for a long enough period for them to get what they want. Sometimes they do this by hacking accounts; other times they simple make friend requests to people who don’t know them. From there, it could be a simple matter of monitoring posts for location data and extended and absence.
4. Identity theft — Are you revealing too much info in your Facebook profile? Potential victimizers can combine your Facebook profile info with your other social media profiles to get the data they need. Note that identity theft can happen to your children, too, and this might not be noticed until they’re 18 or older.
5. Career compromise  – Given two equally qualified candidates, new research shows that if a potential employer checks social media profiles, they tend to have a bias against those who post anything to social media – regardless of the topic or tone; even worse if you say something compromising or have photos of questionable behavior. This may not be surprising given that while most U.S. universities and charities are on Facebook, the percentage of Fortune 500 companies with a Facebook page is considerably less (60% as of Jan 2012).
6. Reputation damage — It might only take one tagged picture of you cutting loose, doing something one time that you wouldn’t normally do. If an acquaintance not in your Facebook network posts the picture, you might not even know about it — a potential problem if they’ve identified you in text.

Privacy and Security Features
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg — who in late 2013 spent an extra $30M buying four extra nearby homes to maintain his real-life privacy — has in the past openly indicated that “privacy is over” and that if he were starting Facebook anew that user information would be public by default. That was nearly three years ago and the company doesn’t seem to have swayed much from that goal. He has also made comments suggesting that Facebook users don’t care about privacy.  Despite this attitude, there are legitimate reasons to maintain your privacy on Facebook and there are ways to do so.
This is not a comprehensive list, but possibly two of the most under-utilized features are “private profile” and friend lists. New Facebook accounts used to be private by default but have since switched to public by default. You need to manually change that setting. As for friend lists, they’re the digital equivalent of social circles. Friends can fall into multiple lists or just one.
15 Things You Should Do To Maintain Privacy on Facebook
According to various reports, teens and adults are being turned down for work due to certain things they’ve posted on their social profiles. To see how potentially embarrassing indiscriminate posting can be, visit weknowwhatyouredoing.com.
Younger children are at risk, too, given the growing number of underage Facebook users. According to figures by the Crimes Against Children Research Center, children in the 10-13 age range are at most risk from online predators — that age group makes for 22% of targets.
Here are some tips for maintaining your privacy and keeping your profile socially acceptable, as well as for protecting your children if they use Facebook.

1. Review your Facebook profile information to make sure that if you do have email addresses, employment history and phone numbers listed, that the information is only accessible by friends. Keep in mind that Facebook had a bug in June 2013 that caused the leak of email addresses and/or phone numbers of 6M users — not a large percentage of all users, but enough to potentially cause problems for those compromised. (If you have specific need to prevent someone from finding you, use an alias in your profile — and don’t post any photos of people associated with you. Better still, use a social media service that’s truly private.)
2. Create friend lists. Name them according to social circles such as family, friends, friends of friends, colleagues, college-chums, teammates, etc. Put everyone in your network on one or more lists. Every time you add someone, assign them to one or more lists. Hide your friend lists to protect your friends, so that strangers cannot see to whom you are connected.
3. When you post, use friend lists to control who sees your information. Set a default setting (e.g., Friends or Friends of Friends). If you want, you can change the viewability setting for a specific post either before (best practice) or after posting.
4. Pay careful attention not only to what you are revealing about yourself in something you are about to post, but also look at the icon indicating who can see the post once it’s published. If you see a “globe” icon, that means your post will be public. Make a habit of checking this before posting.
5. Review your recent posts and consider removing personal details in case you’ve over-shared.
6. Make sure that your location is not being broadcast. This is especially important if you’re using Facebook on a mobile device. Turn off the location feature.
7. If you use Facebook for work purposes, split your posts between your personal profile only available to friends and a “Personality/ Business” Page accessible publicly.
8. Review your friends’ posts if they tag you. Review your comments on friends posts that might be controversial, in case they change their post’s status to Public. Cover your bases by using Google Alerts [http://www.google.com/alerts] to get email updates for your Facebook profile name, and then take action if necessary.
9. Even if you keep your Facebook profile private, if you are using Facebook on a mobile device, be absolutely sure that you are using legitimate wi-fi networks and not “honey pots”. If you get on such a network by accident, change your password immediately. If your Facebook profile includes your email address, change your email password.
10. Change your password regularly — once a month or more often — and don’t repeat any previous password for at least a few months — preferably never.
11. Use different passwords for different websites and services. Try not to reuse your Facebook password anywhere else — especially for email addresses listed in your Facebook profile.
12. Pay attention to any privacy setting changes that Facebook announces. You never know when they will affect you or your children.
13. Make sure your profile name is unique. If there are other people with the same name as you, don’t take chances that your profiles might be confused by someone.
14. Check your overall privacy settings on the Facebook Privacy Settings and Tools web page [https://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=privacy].
15. Check the settings on your photo albums. Each album and photo can have custom settings.

Check the Facebook Privacy page [https://www.facebook.com/help/445588775451827] for more details on privacy settings.
6 Additional Tips For Protecting Your Children
If you think your child will not join Facebook until they’re older, consider that an Oct 2013 study by Commonsense Media shows that 38% of children under 2 have used a mobile device (smartphone or tablet). By the age of 8, that number jumps to 72%. Kids are comfortable with mobile devices, so the chances of them joining a social media site such as Facebook as a mobile user increases. When you then consider that, as mentioned above, 10-13 year-olds make up 22% of the targets of online predators, and that there are millions of underage users, it’s better to guide your children into proper use of Facebook and other social media than to hope they’ll “be good” and not use such services.
In addition to the general tips above, here are some additional tips for protecting your Facebook-using children.

1. If your children are not on Facebook, agree to show them how at an agreed-upon age. Let them know early on what you will expect from them in terms of usage behavior. Better you introduce them and know they’re more likely to trust you as a “friend” if you teach them early and trust them.
2. Implement usage schedules and rules for your children. E.g., can only post to Facebook between 7pm-9pm, from home, when a parent is home to monitor, if necessary.
3. Discuss privacy and security with your kids and make sure that they understand what dangers lurk online. With underage Facebook profiles increasing in number, have this discussion as soon as possible.
4. Require at least your under-age children to friend you (possibly using a joint family profile that one or more adults can use to monitor posts.) If you are not on Facebook and your children are, that’s a very good idea to join. Just don’t embarrass your kids with awkward comments on all of their posts.
5. Review recent posts by your children and teach them to understand what is acceptable and what is not. Ask them to edit out any personal info as necessary. E.g., they may not realize they’re revealing too much when they post about an upcoming family vacation and how long you’ll be away.
6. Ask your children to regularly submit a list of Facebook groups they’d like to join so you can review the groups.

Also make sure that your children are not doing any of the things in the following list.

10 Things You Shouldn’t Do on Facebook
It can be easy to forget how your security and privacy gets compromised on social media. Of course, if you’re doing “bad” things and posting about them, don’t expect to have your privacy maintained. Even if you’re just under suspicion of having done something illegal, Facebook and other social media sites give access to profiles to crime fighting and government agents in certain circumstances — which you cannot prevent. However, to keep other people from knowing your social business, here are tips for what not to do on Facebook

1. Don’t use Klout.com and similar services if you want to maintain a private profile. It’s not clear in the Klout.com UI who can or cannot see your “Klout moments”, but given that your private FB posts do appear in Klout (because you had to have given permission in the first place), it’s probably not a good idea.
2. Don’t use FB apps or mobile apps that “want to post for you” if you’re concerned.
3. Don’t publicly post that you are away for an extended period of time or imply such — especially if your address is easy to find online or in the white pages.  Some U.S. insurance companies are changing policy rules to exclude claims if they can prove you revealed too much on social media and were burgled as a result.
4. Don’t give away too much info about your current whereabouts. Turn off “location,” don’t mention you’re away and for how long. This includes multi-day conferences, even if you’re near by.
5. Don’t publish your full home address contact details anywhere online, including your Facebook profile. If you have a home business, use a P.O. Box or use a service that gives you the equivalent of a physical suite number and signs for packages for you.
6. Don’t post photos of your children, or at the least do not identify and tag them — especially under-age children.
7. Don’t post or tag photos of your friends doing “questionable” things. Ask them to check with you as well before posting. Similarly, don’t post pictures of your bad habits. Make sure your friends are not doing so either. You would think all this would be commonsense, but friends of friends might be posting photos of you.
8. Don’t post “insider information”, especially for publicly-traded companies. You might have family, friends or acquaintances that become sources of such information for you. Carefully consider what you’re revealing before posting about any company or the legal repercussions might be worse than losing a job.
9. Don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know – especially if they have very few friends in their profile. At least with LinkedIn, you know how they’re connected to you.
10. Don’t use short, simple passwords. Use longer passwords, some uppercase letters mixed with lowercase letters, numbers and punctuation. Use multiple unrelated words if it makes it easier for you to remember. It’s particularly important to protect your account if re-use this password for other online services — especially common ones such as email addresses, banking, etc.

 

What Are Kids (Really) Doing Online?

Do you want to know what kids are really doing online? Then you need to watch this video. Then you need to check out this website: www.cyberwise.org.

CyberWise is dedicated to providing state-of-the-art resources for BUSY grownups who want to understand how to use digital media confidently and safely.

Community Empowerment Series: Internet Safety and Cyberbullying

Leading Cyber Expert Theresa Payton will be coming to St. Johns County on Saturday, April 27th!

In the final session of the 2013 Community Empowerment Series, Theresa Payton will be discussing Internet safety, cyberbullying, cell phone safety, sexting, online identity theft and all aspects of digital security.

Whether you are 8 or 80, if you have a computer or cell phone, you should absolutely plan on attending this event if you live in North Florida - it is a FREE event to the public.  Presented by the St. Johns Education Foundation and Communities in Schools of St. Johns County, it is sponsored by The St. Augustine Record, First Coast News, Microsoft, Walmart, Blue Cross Blue Shield, AT&T, Herbie Wiles Insurance and many others. 

Where:  Nease High School
When:  Saturday, April 27th
Time:  Doors open at 9am (Event starts at 10:00 -noon)
Meet and greet Theresa Payton from noon until 1pm.

Sheriff Shoar will be introducing Theresa Payton and his team of Internet Safety Crime Unit will be there to answer community questions.

Books-A-Million will also be there selling Theresa Payton's new book, Protecting Your Internet Identity. 

Online registration is recommended.

For more information visit www.communityempowermentseries.com.

Community Empowerment Series: Session Three Internet Safety

St. Augustine, Fla.— St. Johns County is privileged to be featuring experts speaking on topics that empower us to keep our kids safe through the Community Empowerment Series. The final of three free sessions will be held on Saturday, April 27^th in the auditorium at Nease High School, and features nationally known internet security expert Theresa Payton.

Payton will talk about Internet Safety. This includes topics such as cyber-bullying, children’s identity theft, technology’s role in kids’ lives and sexting.  This final session of the Community Empowerment Series is especially crucial due to its effect on all ages.~ No one is immune to cyber-crimes and identity theft.

This is a free event, however interested attendees are strongly encouraged to register online to reserve a seat. Parents, students of all ages, grandparents, school counselors, educators and anyone who wants to make our community a safer place for kids will benefit from attending the series.

For more online registration, sponsorship opportunities and more information visit www.communityempowermentseries.com. A special thanks to The St. Augustine Record and First Coast News WTLV for sponsoring this series.

The Challenge is On! Teen Online Safety Challenge by Microsoft

Every parent worries about their children both online and off.

Who are they talking to online?  Are they chatting with strangers?  What information are they sharing?  Does your teen or child know the boundaries?

Let’s face it, you can never be safe enough or secure enough–there is always something new to learn!
Encourage your teens to participate in The Safer Online Teen Challenge by Microsoft!

The Challenge is an interactive contest where teens can teach others how to manage their digital lifestyle by creating a song, video, skit or other original work. It’s a perfect way for teens to put their own spin on how they navigate digital safety.

Here’s how it works:

• Teens ages 13 to 18 (where applicable), select an online safety topic from either the Microsoft Safety & Security Center or the “Resources” tab of the Safer Online by Microsoft Facebook page.
• They create their work of art (using one of Microsoft’s five categories: skit/presentation, video, story/cartoon, song, survey) and submit their entry by April 12 on the Challenge website.
• Then, Microsoft’s Safer Online Facebook fans will vote to select the winners of each category. Microsoft will post the winning entries on their website and the winners will receive prizes like tablets, gaming systems and more.

Check out the prizes!

That's Not Cool

Your cell phone, IM, and online profile are all digital extensions of who you are. When someone you're with pressures or disrespects you in those places, that's not cool. That's Not Cool provides tools to help you draw your digital line about what is, or is not, okay in your relationships.

That's Not Cool is a national public education campaign that uses digital examples of controlling, pressuring, and threatening behavior to raise awareness about and prevent teen dating abuse. That's Not Cool is sponsored and co-created by Futures Without Violence (formerly Family Violence Prevention Fund), the Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women, and the Advertising Council.

For more information on That’s Not Cool, get in touch with Futures Without Violence here.