According to Dr Elena Martellozzo (a criminologist who works with the Metropolitan police and specialises in sex offenders’ use of the internet) although a causal link between viewing of child abuse images and performing child abuse actions isn’t easy to prove, in the great majority of cases, when someone has indecently assaulted a child they [...]
Recently we blogged on the Federal Trade Commission’s new guidance which explains how to make clear and conspicuous digital disclosures in online advertising to avoid deception. For marketers promoting in social and mobile channels, the new guidance caters for the expanding use of small screens and the rise of social media marketing. Marketers must now take [...]
On March 12, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the US body which aims to prevent business practices that are deceptive or unfair to consumers, issued new guidance which explains how to make clear and conspicuous online disclosures in digital advertising to avoid deception. The “.Com Disclosures” report updates the report from 2000 and adds [...]
Now that the Federal Trade Commission has finally released its list of changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule, what do experts in the field of child internet safety make of them? I was fortunate to be part of a Google hangout discussing the FTC updates to COPPA with the following child [...]
I attended the recent Children’s Advertising & Online Privacy Conference hosted by the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (ASRC), formerly known as the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU). This year, the conference’s most hotly debated topic was COPPA and the changes coming soon to a family-friendly product near you, which we blogged on last month. I’ll summarize [...]
Many companies at some point have innocently uploaded a photo on their social media page that they didn’t own, and shouldn’t have used, to the extent that it’s almost been seen as an online cultural norm. But this is changing. As technology gets more sophisticated, and people become more aware of the issues around copyright [...]
I’m a firm believer that it’s little use inflicting a punishment if the wrongdoer doesn’t understand why they did wrong. Or even that a punishment has been inflicted at all. My view is backed up in the world of children’s moderation where best practice is tell the young users why they broke the sites terms [...]
Update 20th Dec 2012: The Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, has published interim guidelines setting out the approach prosecutors should take in cases involving communications sent via social media. Any posts that pose a credible threat of violence, breach a court order or constitute stalking or harassment will still result in prosecution. However, [...]
Last month I wrote about the proposed changes to the US COPPA legislation (To quickly remind you: new rules to better protect children against the collection of their personal data online are being proposed by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), including changes to the definition of personally identifiable information.) These much-needed changes will have [...]
Several times over the last few months, we’ve been approached by brands (particularly retailers) who are worried about getting involved on Pinterest. They feel they should get involved – it’s the new, shiny social network, and great for visual brands like fashion retailers – but are worried about the legal implications of using Pinterest – [...]