Seventeen magazine recently asked me if the BeReal app is safe for teens. Here’s their article about that, which is great but of course lots got left on the cutting floor. Here’s my full take: The way this Paris-based app is designed, it’s actually safer than a lot of other apps because it’s made for sharing just among friends. Accounts are private by default. People have to ask permission to … [Read more...] about BeReal & being real about safety & privacy
Search Results for: Safety by design
Powerful parenting for child safety online, offline
“The importance of a strong, positive relationship between a parent and child cannot be overstated. Reams of research has shown this to be true,” writes Prof. Justin Patchin of the Cyberbullying Research Center (CRC). And yet over the 20+-year-long public discussion about child online safety we’ve seen so little evidence – especially in news coverage and hearings on Capitol Hill – that all this … [Read more...] about Powerful parenting for child safety online, offline
Online safety for 2022: 8 things we need to see
What a year it has been for child online safety, right?! There was the adoption of General Comment 25, bringing all things digital into the global Convention on the Rights of the Child; the draft Online Safety Bill and Parliament’s response in the UK; the release of Australia’s eSafety Commissioner’s Safety by Design for the tech industry and investors; the Age Appropriate Design Code coming into … [Read more...] about Online safety for 2022: 8 things we need to see
‘Playful by Design,’ a landmark report
What better subject to zoom in on during the holiday season than play? I've written a lot on the subject, here, through the years but, in a way, this is Part 4 of a series I started in 2009 (here are the 2nd and 3rd parts). So now, at the turn of a new year, it’s not only a perfect time but high time to come back to the power of play. Happy holidays to all who celebrate them, happiness to those … [Read more...] about ‘Playful by Design,’ a landmark report
Apple & the child online safety challenge
2nd important update Sept. 19: As if in direct response to the open letter from privacy activists around the world, the WeProtect Global Alliance published their own statement saying Apple must not pause its expanded protections, the Guardian reported. I stand by my thoughts in the update just below. We need privacy activists and protection activists in the same room answering the questions: Would … [Read more...] about Apple & the child online safety challenge