Many parents have the tendency to separate their children from the internet. Some of them say that the amount of information contained therein is so vast that it makes it difficult to control. Others reason that the internet widens the communication gap among all members of the family. Still others assert that it endangers children to online “friends” who are, in fact, cyber criminals.

Their reasons are partly true, but technology is here to stay despite the fact that some people may run away from it. It has become a storehouse of unlimited resources of useful information. As parents, alienating children from that source of information is sure to do more harm than good. Children are not only being deprived of the chance to gain from the internet’s benefits; they are also becoming dangerously inquisitive.

Children’s online experiences can be as rewarding as any offline activity if done with parental control and guidance. What makes the internet dangerous to children’s privacy is the absence of well-defined rules that have been agreed upon by both parents and children. This is aggravated by those parents who need to educate themselves more about the internet.

It is important that home and school online safety rules are synchronized. Children should feel that rules in school reinforce or complement those at home. This is important because nowadays, schools are taking a more active role in the enforcement of rules concerning online behavior. As children enter school, they should have been prepared by their parents for the new environment.

Children who are not used to following internet rules at home will find it difficult to obey those of the school. It is best for parents to institute policies of their own at home so that children do not feel awkward or intimidated. Of course, not all school internet rules are the same, but giving children the feeling of “familiarity” will help them to become more agreeable.

From time to time, schools will change their policies for several reasons. One could be the reactions of parents, which could range from being too lax or too strict. Another could be the general behavior of the children in a particular school. This is greatly determined by the socio-economic circumstances of the family to which these children belong. In general, schools have to go by the generally accepted norms of online behavior. There are schools, though, that lay down internet rules that are non-negotiable and are never compromised.

The issue of improving online consumer privacy without too much government control has been going on for a long time. Consumers hope that a balance will be achieved so that they can be free from online threats. The efforts put forth by privacy advocates and legislators seem to be working against each other. Government says there is a need for additional regulations, but is it really a question of insufficient laws, or the absence of self-regulation?

With the rapid advancement in internet technology, consumer information can be collected in many ways. The process becomes easier each time – sometimes for beneficial purposes, but at other times not. There is evidence of abuse as shown by the increase in reported privacy breaches. Measures have to be taken so as not to allow further threats to privacy.

There was a recent attempt to find out the state of corporate consumer information collection and what private companies do with the data that they collect. Representatives from government agencies were called by a government official to shed some light on the issue. When they were asked about the status of corporate consumer information collection, they admitted that massive activity on collection and compilation of personal profiles are done by private companies. Generally, the purposes are for marketing and advertising.

The social media craze has infected users of all ages, and there’s one interesting site that deals with social media rules for new moms. Babble.com has listed some rules of etiquette on internet usage that parents are encouraged to follow. Specifically, these rules include standards regarding parents sharing information about their children. Moms in particular have the natural tendency to post anything that is considered a milestone or happy moment in their children’s lives.

Without any inkling that what they are doing could trigger privacy issues, moms unsuspectingly share their child’s photos and news of their activities on the internet. While this could be harmless to some extent, Babble.com recommends that parents be careful about doing so. It has enumerated rules for using information that could pose some questions on etiquette and privacy.

Moms are discouraged from sharing details about their baby’s bathroom habits. No matter how well the “story” is presented, it cannot hide the fact that they are posting something ridiculous. There is enough nonsense on the internet without moms adding to it.

More and more people entrust some important aspects of their lives on the internet. This is because many people share their personal information when they do online shopping or join social networking sites. However, a point is reached when they sense that they have made some online mistakes. What they want to do now is to remove those unwanted portions of their internet footprints. Specifically, they want to remove information they shared that should have been kept private.

This is a result of mindless sharing of personal information. Since they have realized their mistakes, they are now asking for a kind of internet “eraser tool”. Some groups are working towards the passing of legislation that would allow users to easily remove their unwanted data from the internet. Users should have thought of this before they decided to upload their data because now it is too late.

The issue on “the right to be forgotten” is now becoming more intense and popular. In fact, it has begun taking a foothold in some countries. Some have even given a hint of creating an enforceable law of this kind. One direction is headed towards making it possible for users to demand removal of any information about them online. For instance, criminals, after serving their terms could be given the right to demand removal of their criminal histories that were posted on the internet.

Children are fascinated by all the information and images that they encounter on the internet. Statistics say that 90% of today’s school age children have access to computers either at school or at home. These children have become so skilled that they can explore many different sites, but they do not think about privacy issues. Many of them feel that exploring the internet is just like going to the park and seeing different things without having anything to worry about.

However, parents fear that the more their children explore, the more they are exposed to danger. This is especially true when it comes to those under 18 years old. They are not mindful about giving out important personal information. They consider it normal procedure when websites ask them to submit personal data. Those who are into social networking even upload photos, post comments, give out email addresses, home addresses and other personal information.

Right from the start, parents should be personally involved with their children’s internet activities. Yes, it is true that children of this age need some privacy, but not when it comes to the internet. A good relationship must be established by parents with their children so that they are not seen as intruders. This is the only way that internet activity can become family time. Obviously, parents should know which sites their children visit so they can be guided.

As more and more children become involved in online activities, parents want to have parental control over them. The thing is, many of these parents are caught between online safety and invasion of privacy. Those who have started using their parental control would not continue because they said they should respect their children’s privacy rights. The truth is that without parental control, their children can become prey to online predators.

Internet surfing by children is not like their keeping diaries. A diary is accessible only to the owner or to a limited number of family members. The internet is totally different. It is accessible to the whole world therefore, parents should view control on the internet as a responsibility rather than as a choice. Parents must act as the first line of defense. Obviously, children are the most vulnerable to abuse on line because of their emotional and intellectual immaturity.

The internet is a nesting place of an estimated 1 million pedophiles. They do not rest when it comes to finding their next victim, and it could be your child. These child molesters and sexual predators keep their eyes open looking for a child that is unguarded. Your son or daughter does not have the capacity to handle the situation they might accidentally find themselves involved in. There is no substitute for parental control in making sure that children’s online safety is not jeopardized.

There is an ever growing need for people to get connected to the internet for different reasons. As they do so, they are also giving out some personal information and make this available online. Users who use social networking and “buy and sell” sites have in one way or another uploaded their email address. Because they do it regularly, they no longer think of the consequences of loosening up their privacy.

Online privacy is one of the hottest issues when comes to internet usage. Critics and supporters of online privacy question the way some websites gather and use publicly available user information. Technology has allowed some websites to mine personal information by just having a user’s name and an internet connection.

However, due respect should be given to those legitimate sites that mean legitimate business. There are hundreds of them out there whose purpose is to help improve the online experience of users. Spokeo gathers publicly available information about people in order to help other people. This information could range from addresses to pictures of people’s homes, marital status, hobbies, and others. The website organizes this information into a meaningful database that users can use.

It is time to unplug those computers and TVs so that families can spend more quality time with their household members. Family time continues to decline as time spent by family members on the internet and watching TV increases. A study on American families revealed that household members are spending more and more time on the internet than with other household members. Among others, results showed that an internet user spends 3 hours online every day and 1.7 hours daily in watching TV.

The home is slowly losing its role as an emotional cradle. There is an erosion taking place as more adults are paying no attention to their partners and children, and children are not minding their parents and siblings. The family is considered to be the molder of future leaders and productive citizens. In the home, adults and children are expected to experience and share love and to translate this to the larger community. It is here where trust, support, kindness, and how to handle anger, loss, embarrassment, etc. are “caught” by growing children. Adults become role models as they continue to grow emotionally and try to live life to the fullest.

Nothing can take the place of the home as an emotional cradle. Today, many teenagers behave as if they are smart, but many of them lack emotional intelligence. To simplify things, many of them do not know how to “read” other people or even their own selves. Emotional intelligence refers to a person’s ability to understand, read, and manage his or her own emotions. One can only learn these if he or she is given the time to live, work, and play with real people.

The growing number of problems associated with privacy threats on the internet is a day-to-day reality. Users complain about identity theft, security threats, viruses and other things that are difficult to handle. Firesheep, as one of the newest malicious tools, is capable of stealing data, including passwords for email and social networking accounts.

A campaign called “HTTPS Now” which was launched by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Access, advocates the international deployment of HTTPS. They would like to involve users in their crusade for a improved online security and a safer web surfing community. They have started with spreading the word about HTTPS Now and taking advantage of the correct use of HTTPS security features.

HTTPS or Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure uses encryption technology to offer optimal protection. Encryption prevents information from being intercepted along the way. Data is encrypted in such a way that this is rendered “unreadable” by anyone while it is being sent from and to the user’s computer. This is the major advantage of HTTPS over the older HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) technology. Surveys show that many websites are still using HTTP, which is less secure and vulnerable to quite a lot of threats.