PAA5: Online Privacy Issues-Sarah Grandon

1. Scholarly Article:

STANALAND, ANDREA J. S., MAY O. LWIN, and SUSANNA LEONG "Providing Parents with Online Privacy Information: Approaches in the US and the UK." Journal of Consumer Affairs 43.3 (2009): 474-494. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 9 Nov. 2009.

This article focuses on the importance of keeping children safe when it comes to their privacy on the internet. Adolescents tend to give out more information than they realize and this can in turn come back to harm them. Parents need to be the ones to reduce their child's privacy risks. The American Psychological Association has stated that “young children lack the cognitive skills and abilities of older children and adults,” and thus represent a potentially vulnerable group of consumers when it comes to online privacy risks (Kunkel et al. 2004). This clearly means that it is in the hand of the parents. In order to help the parents with this regulation, privacy notices on children's Web sites are needed. Thankfully, Web site operators are mandated by law to provide notices of their privacy policies with a clear, prominent link on the home page. The article also clearly points out the differences in children's privacy between the United States and the United Kingdom. This ultimately allows the reader to compare the two countries the results produced from each regulatory system.

This article shows how necessary it is to protects a child's privacy. It was very educational. The way the article took the time to do a comparison between the United States and the United Kingdom made the article even more for informational as well as interesting.

http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.ohiolink.edu:9099/ehost/pdf?vid=16&hid=7&sid=1ad1c91d-99dd-4747-a4a1-bf1153412b6d%40sessionmgr4

2. Credible Website:

Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)

This website offers top news articles as well as the information on COPPA. "COPPA is specifically meant for protecting the privacy of children under the age of 13 by requesting parental consent for the collection or use of any personal information of the users." The Act took effect in April 2000 in response to the growing awareness of Internet marketing techniques aimed at children. In addition to that, websites were collecting personal information from children without any parental notification. The Act applies to commercial websites as well as online services aimed at children. The FTC will consider whether a site includes an area for children as well as the subject matter and the presentation of the site. The website continues on to discuss the enforcement as well as the criticisms of COPPA.

This website was very informational. It clearly shows what brought about the development of COPPA and the difference COPPA has made. This website is the best way to learn about what is being done to protect children's privacy.

http://epic.org/privacy/kids/

3. Video:

My Privacy: Safely Navigating Life Online

This video discusses the importance of online privacy for all people, not just children. It covers many topics from identity theft to cyber bullying. The people being interviewed strongly discuss the desire for choices. People want companies to give them the option of whether or not to give out personal information.

This video was very interesting. The people interviewed were everyday people of different ages. The video discussed issues that we all worry about. Being safe online is critical and we all need to take steps to protect our privacy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZq1BvwSBTA