Every parent knows that Facebook for kids and children on social networking sites need to vigilantly safeguard their privacy. Apparently lawmakers know that too, and legislators in California are proposing a new bill aimed at protecting the privacy of social networking users.
Initially, the proposed bill only applied to users under 18, but that provision has since been struck and the bill would now apply to users across the board regardless of age. It would require social networking websites to:
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Establish tight default security settings that reveal nothing more than the name and city of the user
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Explain privacy options in “plain language” that is easily understood
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Make selecting privacy settings a mandatory part of the registration process
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Remove any personally identifying information within 48 hours of request by the user or an underage user's parents
Under the proposed legislation, social networks that don't conform to any of these rules would be fined $10,000.
Social networks and others who oppose the bill say that it is unreasonable to expect a user to fully understand all the applications and ramifications of security settings before they've ever used the site, that it's harder to explain all privacy options in “plain language” than lawmakers assume, and that sites have no way to verify the parenthood of people who request that the information about a minor be taken offline.
Whatever the ultimate outcome of the bill, the message is that social networking privacy settings are not getting the attention that they deserve. Parents don't have to wait for a law; they should start a conversation about privacy settings right now. What are your child's privacy settings? Are they still using the default settings? Do they even know what those are?
-Article Contributed by Jenny Evans
