Safety should not be a neatly tied up unit, but an ongoing discussion. Look for teachable moments when students or your children talk about their activity on the Internet. I usually cover two different aspects of staying safe with my grade 10 computer class: protecting your computer with software (programs) and protecting yourself with common sense.
Protecting Your Computer
Use anti-virus software such as McAfee, Symantec Norton, Kaspersky, Avast (free) or another program. Don't use a program that appears in a pop-up ad - many are rogue programs that can cause problems. Make sure that your program is up-to-date as there are always new viruses being written! Check your status by going down to the small images (icons) beside the computer's date (lower right-hand corner) and passing over them with your mouse. Hopefully one of those icons will represent your anti-virus program. Right-clicking on the icon will usually take you to your settings and an update link.
Use strong passwords! Use different passwords for different websites! The strongest passwords combine upper and lower case characters, numbers and special characters. Try to avoid your name or words found in the dictionary. Check out the Passwords page for more suggestions. And please don't use 1234!
Try to be clever about password hints. For example: Mother's maiden name: blue , favourite colour: Smith
Protecting Yourself with Common Sense Several years ago we had a speaker who told our students that "The Internet is written in Sharpie." A Sharpie is a type of indelible or permanent marker. It can't be erased. Many people think that their information or pictures are private if they use Facebook privacy settings or send a private e-mail. This isn't true. There is absolutely nothing stopping someone from copying and pasting or forwarding anything that is posted to the Internet.
Keep Up-to-Date on How a Site Works Another problem is that sites like Facebook keep monkeying around with their program and unless you are on top of these changes, you might be opening yourself up for risk. For example, a recent changes to Facebook include a way to create a group and add people without their consent. A lot of press was given to someone who created a group with a less-than-savoury purpose and added some well-known individuals that he disliked, embarrassing those people. It was possible to remove yourself, but only after people would be notified that you had been added to the group. Ensure that you understand the workings of any program or site you are using including the privacy settings and what information is being shared.
Check Privacy Settings or Use Parental Controls Check privacy settings on various social network sites you may use. There are many sites that teachers can use that offer security or privacy settings, sites that are set up for education. Some examples are edublogs (blogs), wikispaces or pbworks (wikis), tappedin (classroom communities with chat facilities) and ning groups. You can even set up a private Twitter group.
Here is an article from itbusiness.ca on how to close any accounts that you don't want anymore, and completely delete data. Some services may deactivate accounts rather than delete them.
For parents worried about internet access from game consoles, most of them have parental control settings. Check your manual or search for them on-line.
Real-Life Situations
In our school: One of our students lost her computer privileges when she posted details of the family vacation on her private Facebook page. Students add people they don't know as friends on their Facebook account. Students post their cell phone numbers.
In 2009, a video producer named Izzie posted on the internet that he was on vacation. Here is what happened to him.
Also in 2009, a couple of lawyers got into a huge flame war that amused and horrified people all over the world.
A student teacher who was just about to graduate was denied her diploma after she posted a picture of herself on Myspace wearing a pirate hat and holding a cup that read "Drunken Pirate." She was deemed unprofessional.
There are so many examples - people who have lost job opportunities, people who have been stalked, people who have been disciplined by schools - because of silly, inappropriate, unethical or illegal posts.
Good Conversations
Why do I want someone/the world to know this about me?
What would my teachers/potential employer/shidduch think if they saw this?
Do I really know this person well enough to consider him or her a friend?
Am I revealing too much by posting this?
Shayne Train, Education, Educational Technology, Computer Literacy, Web Tools