Category: Children

Possession of child pornography still legal in Japan :-(

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15 May 2010

06:26

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Children, Japan

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Sweden was quite slow in making the possession of child pornography illegal, I think it was not until 1971, hence I was amazed to find out today that in Japan it is still NOT illegal. To go further the government is actually blocking efforts to make it illegal! They say that to make it illegal conflicts with the ‘freedom of expression’!

What about the children’s right for ‘freedom of expression’. The Japanese National Police Agency said it received 4,486 complaints from the public of child pornography on the internet in 2009 and a record 650 people were charged with offences related to child pornography. Campaigners believe that represents the tip of the iceberg.

I agree with the closing statement of Julian Ryall in Tokyo writing for the Telegraph.co.uk “The only people who will be pleased at the failure to pass this legislation are paedophiles.” Read more here.

The Swedish Media Council criticises Facebook

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23 March 2010

10:49

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Children, Information Privacy, Information Security, Social Networking, Sweden

The Swedish Media Council published a report yesterday where they look at the social networking sites used by kids today (Facebook and Youtube among others).

The study is done from a Swedish perspective, which reflects the sites selected for the study, as well as the basis for what criteria should used for the study to some extent (they base part of the criteria on the Swedish law Law on responsibility for electronic billboards (1998:112), also known as the BBS-law).

They mainly look at how safe the site is from a user (kids) perspective. Safety here focuses on handling of user information, how user reports/issues are handled, conditions for membership and  how easy it is to get information on, and in contact with the people running the site.

Unfortunately, the report does not go into all the details on the data they should have gathered in their research. Still an interesting read, and it should provide a good guide for parents looking out for their kids online.

The report is available as a download here. In Swedish only as far as I can tell.

Beware of school authorities bearing gifts ;-)

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19 February 2010

10:18

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Children, Territorial Privacy, U.S.

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Picked up from Jack’s tweets….

According to the filings in Blake J Robbins v Lower Merion School District (PA) et al, the laptops issued to high-school students in the well-heeled Philly suburb have webcams that can be covertly activated by the schools’ administrators, who have used this facility to spy on students and even their families. The issue came to light when the Robbins’s child was disciplined for “improper behavior in his home” and the Vice Principal used a photo taken by the webcam as evidence. The suit is a class action, brought on behalf of all students issued with these machines.

This is scandel.. read more at boingboing.

Anti-grooming law in Sweden

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3 February 2010

09:34

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Children, Legislation, Sweden

Seems that I was sleeping July 2009 when this law was passed here in Sweden. I have been watching it’s progress with interest since 2006. Now it is big news on the Swedish radio. It has taken a long time since inception for it to become a law. This type of law is already found in the UK, in the U.S., and in Australia. There could be other countries where such a law exists too of which I am not aware of.

For example in the UK proving that a child is being ‘groomed’ online and thus at risk in a court of law was impossible before 2003 in the UK unless some physical action was taken by the paedophile to meet the child and that the abuser was carrying sufficient evidence implying that sexual abuse would occur, e.g. condoms. In the UK the Amendments to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (s.15) often referred to as the ‘antigrooming bill’ corrected this discrepancy. This act makes new provisions about sexual offences, their prevention and the protection of children from harm, sexual acts and connected purposes.

So back to Sweden. It has become big news because of the criticism that is being thrown at this new law. The law is ineffective. The maximum penalty for an offender is either a fine or a maximum of one year in prison which means that prosecutors and police are not allowed to request critical information from telecoms. The crime is not considered as serious.

Nothing to hide – CCTV in school toilets!

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28 January 2010

13:55

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Children, Territorial Privacy, U.K.

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An excellent article on the use of CCTV, biometrics, databases, etc., in schools in the UK.

Can you imagine that on the uncertainly of whether CCTV should be permissible in toilets, Sayner (managing director of Proxis, a security installation company) reasons that “it depends exactly on what it is looking at,” adding that “If you’ve got nothing to hide, why should you object to that?” I just love this “nothing to hide” argument. For myself I’m not too keen on being the star on some camera footage when I visit the ladies room!

A new surveyed generation?

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17 January 2010

15:30

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Children, Territorial Privacy

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A portable GPS device that can be inserted into a backpack and used to monitor a child’s whereabouts is being tested in Canada, Wired reports. In being a new parent to a beautiful daughter myself in 2009, I understand why tracking your childrens’ movements is so compelling for parents.

However imagine how you felt the first time you went out by yourself as a child. The first time you were allowed to go to the local store and buy your favourite comic… imagine if you knew that your parents were always watching you. How would that have changed you as a person, the independence, the sense of adventure that you can only get when you do something yourself without thinking that you are always being watched. So the question is ‘what are you depriving your children of when you continuously monitor their movements’?

Become a savvy citizen!

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26 November 2009

18:42

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Children, U.K.

The BCS is running a campaign called Savvy Citizens. ‘Savvy Citizens’ helps people become savvier in how they access, understand and manipulate information in today’s information society. You may find it worth checking out, you will find some useful information and tips there. Especially if you are one of the many in UK who are trying to work out what this information society hype is all about and keen to learn!

My mum and dad are among the curious and keen, and have both purchased laptops and are attending evening classes to become PC/Internet savvy… which is pretty cool. So check out this url mum and dad, a special link for you: my tip to savvy citizens that I contributed on protecting children online using technology 🙂