RE: Location in the news

True but 8 year olds are easily confused. That's why we have medicine cupboards with locks on and we generally put them high on a wall out of reach. That kids will download and use these applications is as certain as day follows night. Companies that have unleashed location applications without any means of stopping this from happening have once again let dollar signs cloud their judgement.

 A recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive (commissioned by McAfee) found that 37% of US youth between the ages of 10 and 12 have an account on Facebook, where the minimum age is 13. In the UK a survey by our statutory regulator - OFCOM - found that 25% of 8 - 12 year olds who use the internet at home also have a Facebook account.

-----Original Message-----
From: Frederick.Hirsch@nokia.com [mailto:Frederick.Hirsch@nokia.com] 
Sent: 24 July 2010 16:46
To: marcosc@opera.com
Cc: Frederick.Hirsch@nokia.com; ifette@google.com; johnc1912@msn.com; david.rogers@wholesaleappcommunity.com; karl+w3c@la-grange.net
Subject: Re: Location in the news

[- list]

nobody on the internet knows you are a dog (unless you tell them) :)

regards, Frederick

Frederick Hirsch
Nokia



On Jul 24, 2010, at 4:06 AM, ext marcosc@opera.com wrote:

> Quoting "Ian Fette (イアンフェッティ)" <ifette@google.com>:
> 
>> I do think it's a bit misguided to blame the API. You could just as 
>> easily provide a map and say "where are you?" - or, as FourSquare 
>> does, let you search from a list of places to choose from. Does the 
>> API make it a bit easier? Yes, but blaming the API for misuse is 
>> about the same as blaming fertilizer for use in a bomb. It's 
>> certainly legitimate to ask how we protect users privacy and protect 
>> children from unwittingly exposing themselves to harm, but given that
>> 
>> a) there's really no good way (in the US) to distinguish children 
>> online
>> b) you can still easily give up your location details w/o this API
>> 
>> it's a bit strange to call it an API problem. E.g. would you actually 
>> be happy with a situation where if you're over 18 foursquare uses 
>> geolocation but if you're under 18 it makes you choose your location 
>> from a map? Would that really make a material difference? I would 
>> suspect not, and for the same reason believe that focusing on the 
>> geolocation API is looking in the wrong place for a solution.
> 
> I agree with Ian. This is not an API issue. Seems like lazyness on the 
> part fourspuare. I hear Flickr has a pretty good model for stopping 
> children registering into the site (have not tried it myself, but my 
> girlfriend tells me that she tried to make an account for our dog, who 
> is 5 - Flickr didnt allow her to correct the age range and required 
> some kind of credit card micropayment before allowing the account to 
> be created).
> 
> 
>> -Ian
>> 
>> On Fri, Jul 23, 2010 at 2:56 PM, John Carr <johnc1912@msn.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> In my paper to the W3C seminar I said I knew of no location 
>>> application that is nominally available to anyone under the age of 18.
>>> 
>>> Foursquare accepts people who are 13 and above. I stand corrected.
>>> 
>>> I just tried to join Foursquare as an 11 year old and it helpfully 
>>> reminded me that 13 was the minimum age. Straight away I tried to 
>>> join as a 12 year old, using exactly the same details as before. I 
>>> got the same helpful reminder. Finally I got in as a 13 year old. 
>>> From beginning to end the three attempts took me about 90 seconds.
>>> 
>>> Shall I hunt around for more example or maybe someone on this list 
>>> already knows of other location apps that observe the same age limit 
>>> (or some other
>>> sub-18 limit) and employ the same high standards of security to 
>>> enforce them? Not.
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: John Carr [mailto:johnc1912@msn.com]
>>> Sent: 23 July 2010 20:18
>>> To: 'Marcos Caceres'; 'ifette@google.com'
>>> Cc: 'public-privacy@w3.org'; 'David Rogers'; 'Karl Dubost'
>>> Subject: Location in the news
>>> 
>>> http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jul/23/foursquare
>>> 
>>> Favourite bit:
>>> 
>>> "Technologically, it's not a huge step, but, socially, it is huge. 
>>> The big moral questions are being left to the app developers to 
>>> answer at the moment. This is irresponsible. Users are being 
>>> socially engineered into allowing this level of privacy invasion 
>>> through the over-hyping of the benefits."
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
> 
> 
> 
>

Received on Sunday, 25 July 2010 18:43:58 UTC