AOL UK has started to sell a social media monitoring service that provides parents with an overview of their children’s online activity. SafeSocial alerts parents to any irregular or concerning behaviour, which arises from spending time on social networks. It requires consent from the child and aims to encourage positive dialogue between them and their parents. The parent does not have to become friends with, or follow, the child in order to monitor their online activity, using the tool. It produces a report card of overall activity and identifies unusual behaviour. Read More By Sarah Shearman for Brand Republic, 17 Nov 2010.
Tag Archives: Legal & Regulatory
Facebook U-turns on phone and address data sharing
Facebook appears to have U-turned on plans to allow external websites to see users’ addresses and mobile phone numbers. Security experts pointed out that such a system would be ripe for exploitation from rogue app developers. The feature has been put on “temporary hold”, the social networking firm said in its developers blog. Read More For BBC News Technology, 18 Jan 2011.
Facebook claimants poking Zuckerberg again
Three Harvard graduates are trying to ramp up a $65m settlement they made with Facebook over who came up with the idea for the site. It’s the principle, you see. Olympic rowing twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss and partner Divya Narendra accuse Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea for the website, which last year became the most visited in the world. They’ve already settled this once, and made a cool $65m in the process, but now they’re saying Facebook misrepresented its stock price and that they should’ve been given even more. But, of course, it’s not about the money. Read More By David Waller for Management Today, 11 Jan 2011.
Police seek powers to shut websites
The police are seeking powers to shut down websites deemed to be engaged in “criminal” activity. The Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) has tabled a plan for Nominet, which oversees .uk web addresses, to be given the domain closing power. Nominet said the idea was only a proposal and invited people to join the debate on the form of the final policy. Read More By BBC News:Technology, 26 Nov 2010.
WAVE: a free web accessibility evaluation tool
WAVE is a free web accessibility evaluation tool provided by WebAIM. It is used to aid humans in the web accessibility evaluation process. Rather than providing a complex technical report, WAVE shows the original web page with embedded icons and indicators that reveal the accessibility of that page. Read more
Consent Will Be Required For Cookies In Europe
A law that demands consent to internet cookies has been approved and will be in force across the EU within 18 months. It is so breathtakingly stupid that the normally law-abiding business may be tempted to bend the rules to breaking point. The fate of Europe’s cookie law became improbably entwined with a debate over file-sharing. To cut a long story short, it broke free. On 26th October, it was voted through by the Council of the EU. It cannot be stopped and awaits only the rubber-stamp formalities of signature and publication. To read more Click Here By Struan Robertson, Out-law.com, 9th Novemeber 2009
Opera Web Standards Curriculum
Want to learn how to make websites with web standards? Rather than reading the outdated material found in books just a few years old, head over to the Opera Web Standards Curriculum and read about the current industry best practices. Read More
The Information Commissioner’s Guide To Using Social Networking Sites Safely
Social networking websites, where people can meet, chat and message each other online are used by millions of people all over the world. Some people are worried about how safe it is to use the internet to share personal details in this way. A website which collects information from you has among other things to keep the information safe, keep it up to date and not use it in a way you might not expect. However, users also have a role to play in protecting their own privacy. This guidance will encourage safe use of these sites and help you enjoy the benefits of being online while reducing the risks of posting information about yourself on the net. Read More By Ico.gov.uk, Nov 2nd 2009