FTC's Tips for Parents

Parents Should:

• Look for a privacy policy on any website directed to children. The policy must be available through a link on the website's homepage and at each area where personal information is collected from kids. Websites for general audiences that have a children's section must post the notice on the homepages of the section for kids.
• Read the policy closely to learn the kinds of personal information being collected, how it will be used, and whether it will be passed on to third parties. If you find a website that doesn't post basic protections for children's personal information, ask for details about their information collection practices.
• Decide whether to give consent. Giving consent authorizes the website to collect personal information from your child. You can give consent and still say no to having your child's information passed along to a third party.
  Your consent isn't necessary if the website is collecting your child's email address simply to respond to a one-time request for information.
• Decide whether to approve information collection from your kids based on new uses for the information. Website operators will let you know about the need for new consent by sending you a new notice and request. They will do this when they are changing the terms-of-use of the information in a "material" or significant way.
• Ask to see the information your child has submitted. The site will ask you to verify your identity to ensure that your child's information isn't given out improperly.
• Understand that you may revoke your consent at any time and have your child's information deleted. To stop a website from collecting additional information from your child, you can revoke your consent. You also may ask a site to delete any personal information it has already collected from your child.

From: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/kidzprivacy/adults.htm

Personal Privacy Defined

Computer users consistently list privacy online as one of their top concerns about Internet use. So, what exactly is privacy? Merriam-Webster online defines privacy as "freedom from unauthorized intrusion" (http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/privacy). That definition certainly hits the mark of what a computer user expects from his 0r her time online. No one allowed into personal files, no one allowed to view surfing history and no one allowed access to any personal information. The truth is, there are people out their racking their brains on how to tap in to all that information mentioned. Some people make a career out of exploiting you. The best way to enjoy and utilize the Internet while still maintaining privacy is to install software that is specialized to protect you. We like Norton 360. Head over to CFR's personal privacy section and see why.

Can I really "erase" data?

Computer data and files are made up of numbers. Strings of 1's and 0's. To derive meaning from the digits you must organize them into patterns. Once your computer arranges the numbers into patterns, voila- you have your files. When the strings of numbers at the beginning of the sequence are scrambled, or randomized, the whole thing- be it a picture, email or website, the whole file is rendered invisible. Once the "deleted" or invisible file is erased, the computer sees the space where the file has been as blank. Then, new files and applications can be placed upon its old spot. As more and more 1's and 0's pile up over the grave site of the old file, eventually the file is erased. Sometimes the erasure does not completely occur because the "overwriting" process occurs at random. If any portion of the deleted file is not written over, that file can be recovered. If you think about this, then, when you sell off your old system, much of your data that has been "erased" may still be accessed.