This will probably bring internet flotsam to my site, but I thought you expert geeks out there might want to see the long headers (and raw source, just for fun) of the Facebook phishing email I just found in my Inbox. I received three different phishing attempts, but I just chose this one at random. I’m sure they were all similar. Click to see all the lovely, spammy code.
(If you aren’t a geek but you are a Facebook user, you can check out the email to see an example of yet another phishing scam. Remember: Facebook won’t ever reset your password without you initiating the reset first.)
If you haven’t heard of all this mess yet today, let me sum up:
Harriton High School, one of the richest high schools in the country, has been named in a lawsuit for using webcam-activation software on school-issued laptops to spy on a student. It’s come to light that all 2,000+ laptops issued (for which the students paid insurance) had been set up with remote-activation webcam software. This means that the school district could turn on the webcam in any laptop at any time. It did so in the case of Blake Robbins and used evidence obtained from the laptop in Robbins’ possession to bring about disciplinary action against Robbins. Robbins parents are now suing the district, seeking class-action status.
One of only three International Baccalaureate Diploma Programs in the Delaware Valley (i.e. western Philadelphia suburbs); student/teacher ratio of 16:1; extensive AP programs) and honors course offerings; 94 percent of graduates attend four-year college; two-time recipient of Department of Education Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Award. The school district of Lower Merion township, in Montgomery County, PA, has an annual budget of $175.2 million. The school district serves mostly privileged upper middle class and upper class kids.
Here are a few of my questions, as a former systems admin:
How efficient is this webcam tracking system? If a real criminal stole the laptop, he or she would have the harddrive wiped clean before attempted resale, so the webcam- remote activation software would be wiped with the rest of the files on the drive. Basically, this software was installed with the intent not to catch hardened non-student criminals. It was installed to catch fellow students stealing other students’ laptops. Intentionally spying on minors without guardian consent is in violation of the wire tapping act. Plus, I’ve met a few of these students before and I’ve seen the laptops. They informed me they had to pay insurance on them. Why track them if there is money to replace them? Doesn’t this kind of action put students at risk of retaliation and violence? Just let the laptop go and replace it! This kind of spying also opens up the school district for lawsuits, obviously. It will definitely be a landmark case, however it plays out.
Did Blake Robbins, the student against whom evidence gathered from the webcam, steal the particular laptop? Did the webcam get activated upon request of the victim of theft? Harritons’ website is suggesting this in their statement.
Did the school district ever inform parents of the possibility of remote-activation of webcams? Did each student and parent give informed, signed consent for this potential action? (Everything I read says NO. A clear Terms of Service would have helped the school district in this situation).
This smacks of amateur administration to me. When I worked as a systems administrator, the Fortune 500 I worked for issued laptops to the sales force. The support staff could access the laptop remotely, but only with the user there to click through the permission screens. As soon as the user rebooted the machine, the permissions would have to be granted to the support staff again. Also, we had very, very clear policies of appropriate use of the laptop and software, including email. As an administrator, I could go into anyone’s email. Absolutely any email account in the entire company. Did I? No, of course not. Having the keys to the kingdom also means having the knowledge of the policies (Plus, who has time? I’m not interested in your emails to your mom. My team was busy enough trying to keep the manufacturing lines up and the grid healthy).
I actually got into a bit of hot water once, when a very high-ranking manager came to me, asking for access to his employees accounts. A “bad email” (i.e. racist jokes) was being sent around to his whole manufacturing site. He called me and asked me to track the emails. Together (him remotely) we paged through some email accounts.
I was too inexperienced to have the wherewithal to tell the supervisor to contact my supervisor or my boss’s boss who was equal in rank. I told my boss what happened and I was on the verge of being disciplined. They took mercy on me, because I was new. Eventually I’d come to say “No” constantly to all sorts of high-ranking CEOs in the company, but it was a lesson hard learned.
My point in telling you this story: it’s the tech administrator’s job to know what opens up the company to potential lawsuits. The installation of this webcam software without a very clear Terms of Service and informed consent was just plain stupid. If you are a techie at all, you know about the wire tapping act. You also know that the law doesn’t much care about who “owns” the camera. Your job is to know how to design the infrastructure to protect the company.
I must hold out hope for humanity by imagining that a lowly techie at Harriton High School knew the score, probably spoke up, and the non-technical department heads ignored the warnings. (I can’t tell you how many times that happened to me, telling my boss or others about a weakness in the infrastructure, me being ignored, then a few days later watch it all crash down. After a while, you just don’t even get angry anymore. You just do as you’re told and go home at the end of the day.) It’s hard for me to think that there was not one person in all of the sickeningly-well-funded Harriton school district’s employ that didn’t have 1 clue about the potential mess remote-activation of camera software would bring, no matter what circumstance. I can’t stand to think they’d ALL be that stupid.
And yet, here we are.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
-Christine Cavalier, PurpleCar
UPDATE: Feb 19, 2010: The Associated Press reports that the FBI is now looking into criminal charges against the district. The webcams were activated 42 times in the last 14 months supposedly in search of stolen or missing laptops. article here. Also, this video says that Apple released a statement about a bug in the intel-based macbooks that caused the webcam recording light to come on even though the camera wasn’t recording. NBC10 has a bit more to say, including the name of the assistant principal involved. The main question: if only 2 tech admins had access to turn on the webcams, how did the assistant principal get access? (Probably she strong-armed a tech into giving it to her, or she stood over the shoulder of the tech and watched while she/he carried out her commands, much like the email scanning situation I was in that I mentioned above).
CNN has more, citing quotes from Doug Young, the school district’s spokesman:
“Doug Young, a spokesman for the Lower Merion School District, said the district would only remotely access a laptop if it were reported to be lost, stolen or missing.
Young said if there were such a report, the district first would have to request access from its technology and security department and receive authorization. Then it would use the built-in security feature to take over the laptop and see whatever was in the webcam’s field of vision, potentially allowing it to track down the missing computer.
Young said parents and students were not explicitly told about this built-in security feature.
To receive the laptop, the family had to sign an “acceptable-use” agreement. To take the laptop home, the family also would have to buy insurance for the computer.
In an “acceptable-use” agreement, the families are made aware of the school’s ability to “monitor” the hardware, he said, but it stops short of explicitly explaining the security feature. He termed that a mistake.
Young added that mistakes might be made when combining technology and education in a cutting-edge way.”
Wow is this district in hot water or what? There are some lost careers here for sure. Unfortunately, the poor lowly techs – who should’ve known better and should’ve refused – will face criminal charges most likely, when this all comes out. Ultimately, they are the ones who broke the wiretapping laws. Take heed, fellow admins: know your limits.
And Mr. Young’s last statement is ludicrous. Oh sure, “mistakes might be made.” Yes, mistakes might be made when combining technology and dressing rooms too. Or combining alcohol or cars. How about combining idiots with security design?
Flippantly saying “oh, you know, we’re trying, and it’s all new to us” trivializes the matter and further violates and betrays the students and families in the district. It really is no excuse. He’s trying to garner public sympathy by playing on the same old fears of any new media and technology.
The family speaks: ABC6 News Apparently, Blake Robbins was “dealing” Mike & Ikes (mute your speakers before you click that link, jeez!). In the news video, listen to what the father says about worrying about his daughter being photographed when exiting the shower, then see Forrest’s comment below. This case will come down to child porn, especially if the feds are involved.
UPDATE: Feb 22, 2010: Evidence that the admins were stupid, and the administration should listen to its student leaders: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/20100222_Laptop_camera_snapped_away_in_one_classroom.html The computing staff lauds the security system in this article, and there’s a link to a webcast about it. The systems administrator goes on and on about how great the camera shots are, without any sense of the law or the possible implications of using this feature with minors. Wow. Just, wow.
This techrepublic blog has a great round-up of tech articles about the software, LanRev, and some other similar apps, as well as commentary about the implications. http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/itdojo/?p=1559
- Great for small businesses: map your contacts!
- Add satends & family directly from your address book
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-Satellite imagery from NASA, Microsoft & others
-Take to the sky with our powerful flight simulator
-3D videos of places like Disneyworld, Area 51 & Budapest
-eBook that explains how to maximize Google Earth
New visualization capabilities will thrill and intrigue you. With the newest version of Earth, you’ll discover things about the world you never knew before.
Media Internet Consultants, Edif. Neptuno, Planta Baja, Ave. Ricardo J. Alfaro, Tumba Muerto, n/a, Panama
_________
I clicked through, not especially paying attention to the warning signs (not from google.com or anything resembling Google, hard sell, generic services, etc.). I clicked through until I got to the page that asked for money. That’s when I woke up. I tried to close the page and lo and behold, the 30% off offer of $58.97 for a 3 year subscription suddenly has a pop-down window that changes the offer to 50% off! Spam, spam, spam. And they almost got my money. I was thinking, well, that’s super cheap, only 7 bucks (US) a year for google earth?
Seriously, don’t check email when you’re tired.
While there is a pro version of Google Earth (for industry people, not you or me), this scam tries to imply that the entire product is PAY, which is not, the most common Google Earth is free. Don’t pay for services unless you really know what you and your company are doing.
Phishing is the practice of trying to trick people into revealing their passwords. Email is the usual medium. The emails are designed by experts and are made to look like they are being sent from a valid service or application.
At first glance, it’s hard to tell what’s real and what isn’t. In reality, it’s easy to discern real emails from phishing spam. A little education about how systems administration works and about how we fall into the trap of misguided beliefs on privacy and ownership is all you need to avoid phishing scams. You’ll never be fooled by these “Please reset your password” emails again.
HOW ACCOUNTS WORK: FACEBOOK DINNER PARTY
Facebook owns this candlestick
Here’s a little story that sort of explains computing and user accounts work.
Let’s say that the powerful and organized Facebook Family owns a house in your neighborhood. They have lots and lots of well-planned dinner parties. You don’t know them very well, but you are going to one of their parties.
The night has come, and it’s time to go to the party. You walk up to the door and knock, and the Facebook Family lets you into the house. You sit down to a nice dinner; the silverware and place settings are beautiful and the food is scrumptious. The conversation flows. Everyone has a great time. Then the night is over, and your hosts walk you to the door, then they close the door and lock it as you leave.
Now, let me ask you a few questions:
At the beginning of the night, would you have to bring keys to the Facebook house in order to get into the party? No, that would be silly. Facebook House is owned by Facebook, naturally.
When it is time to enter the Facebook House, do you have to open the door yourself? No, you’d knock on the door. Facebook owns the house and the door, so they will open the door from the inside of the house.
When dinner is over, do you take the silverware or the plates? No. You wouldn’t even be able to if you tried.
When you leave, do you tell the Facebook Family to leave, too? No. It’s their house. They stay, you go.
We all know how this basic social situation works. It isn’t too different with online services.
If a service like Facebook, MySpace, American Express, etc. runs into some sort of technical problem, they will never ask you to reset your passwords. For Facebook to ask you to reset your password is like the Facebook Family asking you for keys to the Facebook House. They’d never need to ask because they OWN THE SERVICE; they have the “keys to the kingdom.” They will reset your password from the inside if you knock on the door and ask them to. But only if you knock and ask nicely. If you have forgotten your password, then YOU can click a button and they will send your authorized email account a reset link (remember which email account you use for each service). This is how it is supposed to work. It’s like you knocking on Facebook’s door and Facebook inviting you in to the their house. That is not Facebook wandering the streets looking for you, a stranger to them, hoping you have keys to their house. It just wouldn’t happen. Facebook never gets locked out of their own house. Ever.
The service owner (which, sadly, isn’t you) can reset any password they like. In fact, they can do WHATever they want WHENever they want. It’s their house; They can serve you whatever dinner they choose. They can read your emails, they can post using your ID, they can change any information on your account that they want. Do they fool around with user accounts? No (who has the time?!). But they’ll NEVER need your help with account administration. Ever.
So, knowing that all services have access to all aspects of their service, ask yourself why they would need you to reset your password. They wouldn’t. Phishing emails prey on the innocent who don’t know better.
HOW OWNERSHIP WORKS: THEY GOT IT, YOU DON’T
You don't own these! (photo by Peter Rice)
Western culture’s views on privacy and ownership help phishing scams work. We all think that we own our accounts. We don’t. Let me repeat: We do not own our accounts.
Don’t believe that your account is your own. It isn’t. It’s Facebook’s. You don’t own the dining room chair that you sit in at the Facebook House dinner party. You don’t own the food they serve you, or the forks or knives or napkins. You have no claim to anything within the Facebook House. You can come to dinner, enjoy yourself, and go home, but you can’t take your plate home with you, because it isn’t yours.
This was the hardest thing to drill into people’s heads when I was an systems admin for a Fortune 500: The company can control, look at, search, read, take over, claim and otherwise wreak whatever havoc they desire on your email account. The company owns it; you do not. Our inherent ideas of privacy and ownership run deep, and the fact that you don’t own your email, Facebook, or any other online account is hard to swallow for most people. But it’s the truth. No legislation is ever going to change this fact. Accept it now. I’ll give you a moment for this to sink in.
…
OK. Ready? Now that you’ve accepted the hard truth, you’ll be safer in the long run. Why? Because you will recognize phishing attempts for what they are: well-designed tricks meant to prey on your deep-set cultural notions of privacy and ownership. If you realize that services don’t need your help in administering accounts because you, in fact, don’t own the account (the service does), you will be less likely to fall for the onslaught of phishing emails coming down the pike. You’ll realize that the email must be a fake attempt by scammers who aren’t the owner of the service (because if they WERE the owner, they’d wait for you to knock on the door before they opened it).
——-
Below is the example of phishing I received today. I knew it was fake because:
1. Facebook doesn’t need my help in changing my password.
2. I didn’t ask Facebook to change my password.
3. The email was sent to the wrong email address. I use a different one for Facebook.
4. It has a zip file attachment. No way should any password reset emails (even the ones I initiate by asking the service to reset my password) should have an attachment. Only a link.
5. It’s super generic. It doesn’t address me by name, not first and last, not any. Just “Dear Facebook user.”
6. If a service contains it’s own messaging system, the service will use that messaging system first. (i.e., Facebook would just send an in-Facebook email for any announcements, etc.).
Here’s the email:
From: password@facebook.com (Facebook Security)
Subject: Facebook Password Reset Confirmation! Customer Message.
Date: February 8, 2010 10:05:38 AM EST
To: christine@purplecar.net
Dear user of facebook,
Because of the measures taken to provide safety to our clients, your password has been changed.
You can find your new password in attached document.
Thanks,
Your Facebook.
(attached file: Facebook_password_37413.zip ZIP archive 36.7 KB)
——
WHAT TO DO IF YOU’VE FALLEN FOR A PHISHING EMAIL:
1. Try to reset those passwords that you gave up immediately. Go to the service (e.g. Facebook) right away and click on the password reset button.
2. Change the password on your email.
3. Change the password on your financial accounts, if it was the same password (hopefully NOT!)
4. Consider requesting a credit report if your passwords to your accounts were the same, or if you suspect that the scammers have gotten a hold of your financial or other important private information.
5. Contact the customer service departments of all of the accounts that have the same password that you gave up to the phishing attempt.
6. Stay alert and wait to see if anything odd happens in your account over the next several weeks.
Data, Media, Rice, Water. Emerging language and winds of change.
Language changes. It grows. It adapts. Nouns are turned into verbs (e.g. “friend”), words take on many meanings (e.g. “peer”) and subject/verb agreement transforms. Scholars know that the phrase “correct English” is a misnomer at best, a downright falsehood at worst. Languages are living things that grow and change.
We are on the cusp of one of those changes now. It truly could go either way. For a language geek, it’s an exciting event to watch. How will the now-ubiquitous words “data” and “media” be treated? Will the educational system catch up and drill the original usage of “data” and “media” as being plural nouns that require a plural 3rd person verb agreement? Or will colloquial usage overwhelm the textbooks and the subject will be simple, single and quick?
Let’s go over some details.
Datum is a single piece of data. Data are more than one datum.
Medium is a single type of media. Media are all the mediums lumped together.
The subject/verb agreement with these words traditionally went like this:
The datum is written on a piece of paper.
The data are enclosed in the report.
The medium was radio.
The media were newspapers.
(Or, in the case of journalists as a group of people: “The media report a storm coming up the coast.”)
Usage of “data” has morphed into the singular subject/verb agreement for many colloquial speakers (that means “regular people speakers and not specialized people like academics, scientists, etc.) “Data” and “Media” are being treated as mass nouns, like rice (e.g. “The rice is in the cooker”) or water (e.g. “This water is cold!”). Now we are seeing usage like “The data doesn’t support your claim.” and “The media isn’t welcome in the courtroom.”
We are seeing the singular subject/verb agreement usage more with the word “data” and with the word “media.” I don’t think most people would have “medium” on the tip of their tongue if they were asked to name the singular of media, but journalists have been drilling us with their self-referential phrase forever. So we know what “media” is supposed to sound like in a sentence, for the most part (If “data” usage changes, then I think “media” won’t be far behind. But we’ll leave “media” be for now).
“Data” is another problem entirely. I’ve been intimately aware of the usage rules around the word “data” for my entire adult life. When I was 18, I started at the University of Pittsburgh in a Psychology major, and I was quickly treated to a grammar lesson I didn’t soon forget. After years of psychology and biophysics research, then on to business research, I knew the expected plural subject/plural verb conjugation for the word “data.”
But here we are at the crossroads, where seemingly everyone else besides the hardcore researchers use “data” as a mass noun. Sure, the Twitterati will do their best to knock you back into their supposed knowledge and comfort zone as soon as they see a wayward “data is” or “data was.” But they aren’t looking at the big picture. Let’s think for a moment about data. This is a perfect example of why language changes. A cultural change happens, then language reflects that change. (I am now going to start using “data” as a mass noun. That means I will be using it in the singular, so those of you who are grammar-feint-of-heart, I suggest you stop reading now. But I do wish you would just hold your breath for a second and hear me out.)
Data is everywhere. It is coming at us from all sides. We have many convenient ways to get data. We have to make an effort to avoid data. We are data junkies. All of us. But in the end, we see data as a separate entity from ourselves. It is something we consume, like water. We choose to step up to it like we walk to the ocean’s very edge. We make the choice to dip our toes into it, or run away. We have our favorite ways of getting data, just like we have our favorite shoreline beaches. But we see it as a huge mass, almost one big entity of which we take small parts. We make distinctions on its bits. The grains of rice are in the container, but my rice is already cooked. No drops of water are on the window but water is leaking in everywhere. Bits of data are scattered around the internet but my data is on my blog. Wikipedia defines as mass noun as such:
“In linguistics, a mass noun (also uncountable noun or non-count noun) is a common noun that presents entities as an unbounded mass.”
An unbounded mass. Think about that. Think about all the info on the internet. Doesn’t it feel like “an unbounded mass” to you?
(ok grammarians, you can let out that breath. wasn’t too bad, was it?)
See what I mean? Which way will this go? Will data be accepted as a mass noun in the general culture? Or will everyday speakers be exposed to the word in its plural form so much that the phrase “the data are everywhere” sounds right to them?
Let me know what you think in the comments. Your data is/are important to me.
Back in November of 2009, I attempted to write 50,000 words along with other crazy people around the world. National Novel Writing Month is every November and it’s a mad rush to the finish.
The people at Ravenshead Software sent me a full version of Write It Now 4 (WrIN4) to use during that crazy month. I didn’t get to 50,000 words this year, but I gave the software a thorough 10,000-word thrashing. The software held up well.
There are more than a few software packages out there for writers. One could spend hundreds of underpaid and overworked writer dollars on these applications. Before I delve into my review of WrIN4, just know that none of these programs will write your novel or short story for you. They can help with organization, though.
The WrIN4 application, available for Mac and Windows, is deceivingly simple. The menus and tabs are easy to understand and use, but behind these screens are added drag-and-drop features that make editing almost fun. The Tools menu has helpful things in it like “Create Random Character,” which will create a character for you based on typical story archetypes. For example, the software created the character “Alexandre” for me, and gave me this description:
“Created with the Archetypes personality data using the Character type ‘Trickster’.Alexandre needs to make people happy. He loves surprises. Recently Alexandre worked as an entertainer.
Bart in ‘The Simpsons’ is a typical example of this.
Alexandre is fairly tall. He has a cheap coat. He has smooth skin and is extremely presentable. His hair is expensively cut. Alexandre looks strong and is extremely wiry. ”
That’s probably enough to put you over the top of your writer’s block wall right there.
I could play with the Tools section all day. I particularly like the built-in Thesaurus and reading level assessment (under “Story Readability”).
I kept in close contact with Ravenshead services throughout the month of November. Here were some of the finer points that I’d like to see addressed in the software:
*Can’t add images into the text. We are now in a multi-media age. Writing software needs to catch up. There are times we writers will want to place an image, for example, a picture of a molecule, within the text. You can’t do this with WrIN4, and I don’t know if competing software can do this either.
*The + and – buttons at the bottom of the left-hand column are teeny tiny and their function was a bit confusing. What was I adding? What was I subtracting?
*The program makes you save again to exit. This is ok for most folks, but I find it annoying to have to click through another menu when I’ve already saved the document 2 seconds earlier.
Ravenshead said that they’d look into these complaints and see if they could tweak things before their update release.
One last note: I don’t think the pricing is great. It’s more expensive than Scrivener, another popular writing program (mac only, though). I think they can lower the price a bit to be a bit more competitive.
UPDATE: Jan 23, 2010: Rob from Ravenshead wrote this in an email to me:
Hi Christine
Thank you for the review of WriteItnow 4.
For the next release we’ve changed the expand/collapse tree icons so
they are less confusing.
For the release after that we’ll add an option to add photos to most tabs.
I’ll also look into smarter save options on exit. The program keeps a
constant checksum for the story which can be used to show if it has
changed (and a save is needed). We used to use this to optionally show
the ’save now?’ dialog on exit. It may be time to re-introduce this.
Regards
Cap’n Billy “The Butcher” McDougall’s Guide to Pirate Parenting by veteran writer Tim Bete is a short but sweet parody of parenting books. Within its pages is sage wisdom such as this:
What should my pirate know about fire safety?
There is only one thing your pirate needs to know: Never fire until the captain gives the order. Firing without orders is punishable by 16 lashes.
But even as a parody, it contains some solid advice:
Discipline isn’t punishment.
Remember, there’s a difference between discipline and punishment. The role of discipline is to teach your pirate the appropriate way to act. The role of punishment is to get prisoners to tell you where their booty is hidden.
There’s also solid advice about common kid ailments like cuts and bruises, viruses and what to do with picky eaters. The book covers the range from newborn to the end of the teenage years. It’s amusing and clever and keeps the pirate gag going throughout. I can see this book as a great shower gift for dads (who are usually ignored in the pre-baby process and parties). Just tell your friends to skip the (bit tedious) intro and get right into studying the nitty gritty of Pirate Parenting.
Get a paper book copy today via ThinkGeek’s website or download the free e-book.
I’ll leave the political implications to other bloggers. Right now, I want to share a recent experience with censored information that has left me reeling.
Last month my British friends on Twitter (some real life friends, some just close online contacts) sent me some links about the true living conditions for Palestinians. I am ashamed to admit it, but I truly had no idea. I know, the information is out there, but I just never saw it. I don’t know why. But just existing in life, here are the messages I get from American media and culture:
*Israelis and Palestinians have never been at peace for thousands of years, and there is nothing we can do about it.
*Palestinians are lavished with supplies, including arms, by other muslim Middle Eastern countries.
*Palestine is the greatest risk to our security in the Middle East.
The list goes on, but you get the gist. The information my friends sent me blew all of these messages to shreds; they just aren’t true. It has brought the meaning of “disrupt” to my very core. It’s uncomfortable. I’ve shed tears over it (here’s a comparison: I shed tears maybe twice about 9/11. One of those times being on 9/11/2001 when I thought a friend was in the Towers).
With Google opening up its search engine, I wonder what kind of disruption is happening with the Chinese people. Are they wise enough to take advantage of this likely short period of time to feverishly look up all the information on Human Rights activists or Democracy? What happens when they find that information that has been withheld from them? Will they feel sad or angry? Will their hearts be heavy with feelings of uselessness as mine is with Palestine? I am just one person. What if millions of people in China learn that their government is not the loving and protective big brother it purports to be?
My friend Eric Rice has a fantastic term for this: Infocalypse: an apocalypse of information. It’s information coming in from all sides, a flash flood of opinion, news, truth and falsehoods. How do we raise children in this? How do we introduce censored/closed cultures to this? How do we find out when we, ourselves, are being censored and what do we do about it?
How do we wean ourselves off it? We are begging for more and more and more information from Haiti. Right now, we would take information from the most biased, evil person on the streets in Haiti. We will absorb their tweets like water on cracked desert soil. We will work to restore their electricity so we can get them internet access, so they can get information themselves.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not a fan of censorship, and I’m now so accustomed to surfing the waves of info that I am disrupted when I find that some particular waves have been stopped without my knowledge. I’m a big fan of info. But as a parent and a US citizen, I’m wondering what the effect of an infocalypse will have on a oppressed culture and unsuspecting individuals in the long run.
According to Symantec, “Porn” is a term most searched on the internet by children less than 7 years old. This means many things, but one thing I’ve been thinking about is that an astoundingly awesome “good-karma” opportunity for Google and Symantec is fading away as we speak.
Symantec collects data on millions’ of users search habits. Their service, OnlineFamily.Norton, is a web monitoring service where parents can create profiles for each child and monitor their online activities. The company has mined data on millions of searches performed by the children who have Norton profiles. Symantec has amassed the data into a report. Symantec doesn’t reveal the number of children who have profiles, but the mere number of searches mined (over 14 million) lends us the information that Symantec must have many thousands of children’s profiles in their system (I trust these data and the sample. As a researcher, I think these data represent the general population fairly accurately).
For kids reported to Symantec as being under 7 years of age, the term “Porn” is #4 most popular on the list. Does this mean that children are hyper-sexualized? No. It means that kids are using the internet to look up definitions of words they hear. They don’t want an example of pornography; they want to know what the word means. They are afraid to ask in fear of “getting in trouble,” so they do what they know how to do: they stick the term into a search bar. Much research shows that although small children can be curious about sex and pornography, healthy young children tend to avoid interacting with adult x-rated media. Wake up and smell the opportunity, Google and Symantec!
These are the results from today’s Google search on the term “porn.”
Notice the lack of plain definitions anywhere. Google, Symantec and perhaps Merriam-Webster are missing a golden opportunity to better the world and to get some great press. They should gather forces to ensure that the top search result for “porn” links to an informative but simple definition of the term. (I’d suggest linking to Wikipedia, but the entry for “Pornography” isn’t appropriate for young children. If Wikipedia could get the image off the entry and lock down any editing, the site may have a fighting chance to get in on this American PR Dream.) If they can throw in a few quotes about kids’ behavior from a psychologist or a prominent internet researcher like danah boyd, I’m sure Main Stream Media would pick up the story. Mothers everywhere would feel all warm and fuzzy inside, Google would boost its reputation as THE 1-stop family shop for searching, and Symantec would sell a bunch more products.
You may counter my idea with Google’s claimed practice of not manipulating search results. This is easy to fix: Google could sell or donate the “sponsored link” at the top of the search results page. Google could commit to selling or donating that particular sponsored link to only educational sites like Merriam-Webster or Carnegie-Mellon University. Merriam-Webster or Carnegie-Mellon could use the space to not only define the term but link to their other educational resources.
Do how about it, guys? When opportunity this great knocks, I’m surprised it’s taking so long to answer the door!
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