Online safety means protecting under-13s from predators, bullies and data sharks

Online safety and privacy belong on the same coin. How are we to protect our under-13s from dark forces, the predators and bullies as well as the people who just love to know everything about our children – so they can sell all kinds of ideas and stuff to them.

We do need sound advice from people who live and breathe in the socio-legal waters around these issues in the UK – and further afield.

That means asking ourselves questions about online privacy and having these discussed, answered and developed. We asked Robert Bond, expert in international privacy law to help and he kindly agreed so please do put your concerns and questions to him via comment at the end of this blog post. That way everyone should benefit.

At DigitalME, we know that what drives the value of social media is, in a word, data. Our search histories, social networking interactions, location, web visits and cookies feed algorithms which in turn connect us to others, shape our search results and enable advertisers to target us with ‘super niche’ adverts in webmail, social media spaces and websites we visit.

For this very reason, some people argue that social media is corrosive, effectively eroding our privacy in ways that we do not fully understand. This argument leads to campaigns for tighter restrictions. On the opposite side of the debate, others point towards the potential of social learning and ‘The Semantic Web’ which will require an even greater flow of data and perhaps a redefinition of how we view privacy to enable computers to use our data to enrich our lives and our learning.

What if the same industrial efforts were invested into learning, enabling children to discover super niche information to enrich their investigations and engage in social learning with other students internationally? Imagine how much more fluid, relevant and motivating this form of learning could be.

Whatever your perspective, as educators if we are to explore the potential of social learning we need to understand the current laws governing data and privacy and how or if we should protect children’s data.

This is where Robert comes in. He is an expert in international privacy law and so can help us untangle the complex lexicon of international law by answering your questions.

We’re inviting all of you – educators, not-for-profits, business people, parents and children – to put your questions to Robert via the comments box at the end of this post and he will respond.

Robert works for Speechly Bircham has more than 30 years’ experience people on of their commercial IP, technology and data protection requirements. He specialises in data, technology and information law and has market-leading expertise in a number of specialist sectors including computer games and digital media where he is an acknowledged industry expert.

If that’s a little scary, try not to worry! Robert has a keen interest in protecting children when they go online and would really enjoy answering any questions you have.

 
The i In Online. Robert Bond Profile

Related Articles for starters:

Facebook Age Debate

How Google personalises everybody’s search results

The Semantic Web