K12> Questions about the I-Safe/Verisign proposal

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Net Happenings - From Educational CyberPlayGround
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From: "Nancy Willard" <nwillard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <K12ADMIN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 14:39:12 -0800
Subject: Questions about the I-Safe/Verisign proposal
 
Link to article that has already been sent to these lists:

http://news.com.com/2100-1029_3-5156982.html

VeriSign works to ID kid surfers

"VeriSign plans to unveil on Wednesday a digital identity program for
school-age children, which it says will bolster online safety for the
growing number of young Web surfers.

The Net infrastructure and security company and partner I-Safe America , a
group that educates children about online safety, will demonstrate the use
of digital IDs at a Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee
luncheon and technology fair in Washington, D.C."

I have since done some further investigation into VeriSign and this proposed
plan. For those who do not know my background, I played a rather major role
in ferreting out the manner in which a company called Zap-me, which was
providing "free" technology to schools, but were using the access provided
to engage in profiling and targeted marketing of students. John Schwartz can
verify this background. My work on this issue contributed to the company
being forced to change its business model.

I also testified before the COPA Commission and the National Research
Council committee that was addressing youth and online pornography. The
essence of my testimony was on the concerns of false security related to
these so-called "technology protection measures."


The following are the questions I have about the I-Safe/VeriSign plan:

Business model questions:

How does VeriSign expect to make money from this project?

In what ways could this business model affect the well-being of children and
teens? (i.e., Is this service to be funded primarily by web sites seeking to
advertise and sell to the youth market?)

Presumably, if this direction is pursued, all web sites that have a child or
teen audience would be required to pay a fee to VeriSign to participate in
this program.

How much does VeriSign expect to charge for such service?

How much does Verisign expect to make from such service?

How might this impact web sites that are hosted by non-profit organizations
that have limited capitalization, but are providing the kinds of information
that has high educational value?

Would the full roll-out of this plan mean that all web sites with
information or activities potentially of use by children or teens have to
pay money to VeriSign for the "privilege" of allowing for youth access?

Privacy questions:

What data about students will schools be providing?

What additional data will I-Safe, VeriSign, and any affiliated company be
able to obtain?

How will this data be used?

How possible will it be to use this technology to engage in high level
profiling of young people that can be used for targeted advertising? (ie. Is
this SpyWare for Kids?)

Web Site Review Questions:

What is the process by which web sites will be reviewed and determined
appropriate for children or teens?

What will the criteria be?

Who will be doing the reviewing?

How public will this process be?

How will issues of sites that are potentially controversial, e.g. sites
addressing issues pertaining to gay and lesbian teens, be handled?

False Security questions:

How could young people intentionally get around the "protections" offered by
this technology?

What are the possibilities that people with dangerous intentions could
obtain a token, which would provide a false level of credibility and allow
such people greater access to unsuspecting children or teens?

How would the implementation of this program impact parental decision-making
with respect to the level of supervision necessary when their child or teen
uses the Internet?

Ethical Concerns:

Of significant concern with respect to this proposal is information related
to past actions of VeriSign. Specifically, in the early 2000's, a practice
emerged whereby individuals were purchasing expired domain names and
establishing porn sites, a practice called "porn-napping." The new owners of
these URLs then extorted money from the original owners. Additionally, many
unsuspecting users, adults and children, were exposed to pornographic
material that they had no intention of accessing.

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VeriSign was reportedly in a position to make changes in its policy to
address these concerns -- but failed to do so. Reportedly, the reason
VeriSign failed to respond in an ethical manner was that this practice was
beneficial to its finances. In other words, it appears that VeriSign placed
its own financial position over the concerns of the well-being of children
and teens.

This prior apparent ethical lapse should be closely evaluated if there is to
be a plan whereby VeriSign is placed in a situation that requires the
highest level of ethical responsiveness to the well-being of children and
teens.

Please feel free to forward this e-mail.

Nancy

--
Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D.
Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use
http://csriu.org
nwillard@xxxxxxxxx



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