Google Releases Buzz Safety Video - Internet Safety

Google has released a video offering safety tips for their Buzz application. This got me to thinking about Internet safety, a topic that often comes up with clients who have children, especially pre-teens and teenagers.

First, a history lesson: I'd like to relate a story from my youth, when I was about 13 or 14 years old I saved up my allowance and (with a little help from my grandparents) purchased a modem for my Commodore 64. I'm not going to date myself by disclosing the exact year, however it was about the same time that Steve Case made his first foray into the online world. The Internet still being in its infancy, Bulletin Board Systems (or BBSes) were all the rage. Through my school friends, I got the phone numbers for some local BBSes and began talking to the denizens of these online communities.

Now this was back in the day when the only people with computers were computer nerds, and one of the things (if not the only thing) that we discussed on these BBS systems was software. I was using the clunky, hokey, software that came with my modem to connect to these systems, and it was problematic and cumbersome for me. Luckily (I thought), the community was ready to help, and one of the Operators of my favorite BBS offered to provide me with some better software. I was thrilled, and promptly gave him my home address so he could drop the floppy discs through our mail slot.

Well, you can see where this is going... my parents were none too thrilled when a shaggy, middle-aged, stranger sauntered up to our door and asked for their 13 year old son by name.

Now in my case I was lucky, the whole thing was innocent enough. The stranger genuinely wanted to help me with my computer, I learned a lesson about privacy and strangers, and likely the roots of my career in network security are in this story. However, we live in a different era now, and the Internet is rife with predators of all kinds.

So my clients are justifiably concerned about the safety of their children online. The questions I get run the gambit: "What software can I get to filter our Internet?" "How can I monitor what my kid is doing on his/her laptop?" "Is there a way to read my kid's email without them knowing?" you'd be amazed, even shocked, by some of the requests I get. The delicate thing for me is that the answer is not some piece of software or hardware that will protect any child who stumbles onto the Internet... the answer is twofold:

1) Education about safe use.
2) Having a healthy, trusting, relationship with your kids.

Obviously, step one is the easier of the two. That's the area where things like this Google video about Buzz can help. Making sure that your kid is just as careful online as he/she would be in a public park is a good starter.

As for step two... it's a little out of my area of expertise, except to say that the more you try to block/filter/spy on your kids computer use, the less likely you are to know what's really going on. For every home network with a firewall and parental controls, there's three friends your child has who have unfettered Internet access and WiFi that they are happy to share. The best defense is making sure that your child understands the risks and can protect her/himself.

So if I were to offer a word of advice on this subject, it would be to take a couple of minutes and watch the Google video with your kid. It may start the conversation, and that's a step in the right direction.