Online Safety: Internet Content and Kids with Windows XP
Published: June 3, 2002
By Barb Bowman, Windows XP Expert Zone Community Columnist
Editor's Note: Past articles by members of the online community are archived for your use. The information may become outdated as technology changes. For the most current information, please search the Web site or post a question in the newsgroups.
The Internet has brought us the means to communicate and share, using pictures, words, applications, and more. Sadly, although the Internet expands our circle of friends and acquaintances, it also opens up opportunities for not so nice strangers to abuse and misuse the unprepared Internet user. Using features built into Internet Explorer 6, Outlook Express, and Windows Messenger, you can help ensure a safe Internet experience for you and your children. While nothing can replace common sense in dealing with any individual situation, in this column, you'll find a few additional recommendations to help protect your family's online privacy and safety.
Your Children and the Web
The Web is the new frontier; it's wild and anything goes. If you have very young children, the best policy is to browse the Internet together. For older children, there are optional controls available through the Content Advisor in Internet Explorer 6, included with Windows XP. These controls prevent them from viewing inappropriate content, provided the sites they visit use a content rating system and correctly place the rating information on each Web page they host. (See the Internet Content Rating Association for additional information).
To use the Content Advisor
1. | Open Internet Explorer 6, and on the Tools menu, click Internet Options. |
2. | Click the Content tab, as shown in Figure 1, and then click Enable. |
3. | In the Content Advisor dialog box, click each category and use the slider to specify basic settings.  Figure 1 |
4. | If you have a list of sites you are comfortable letting your children view at any time and a list of sites to always prohibit them from viewing, click the Approved Sites tab and enter the Web addresses accordingly.  Figure 2 |
5. | Click the General tab and create a password, and then write it down and store it in a secure place. This password is needed to allow viewing of restricted content and to change any Content Advisor settings. |
6. | Optionally, click the Advanced tab and specify a ratings bureau. |
7. | By default, users are prohibited from viewing sites that have no rating. You may override this by selecting Users can see sites that have no rating. Click OK. |
The Internet Content Rating Association offers an enhancement to the built-in Content Advisor in Internet Explorer, which may appeal to parents who wish to take stronger and more defined control of their child's browsing.
Safer Browsing for Everyone
Internet Explorer 6 includes a default safe rule for cookie acceptance as well as user-configurable cookie acceptance settings that can be used to help protect your privacy. I've described the new cookie control functionality in Internet Explorer 6: It's All in There. In addition, placing sites in Internet Explorer's Restricted Zone can also assist in protecting your online privacy and security. Global default rules implemented in this zone restrict access to advanced features of Internet Explorer such as launching programs or files in an iframe. The IFRAMEtag is coded in HTML 4.0 and lets Web authors to insert a frame in the middle of a Web page. But this type of functionality is sometimes abused. If you wish to change any of the default rules, you can set a Custom Level.
To add sites to the Restricted Zone
1. | In Internet Explorer 6, on the Tools menu, click Internet Options, and then click the Security tab. |
2. | Click Sites, and in the Restricted sites window, enter the Web site addresses you wish to place in the Restricted Zone.  Figure 3 |
Online Shopping
The convenience of armchair shopping and the ability to compare prices and search for bargains on the Internet can save time and money, if approached with common sense. Information that you disclose to sites on the Internet is important to your safety and privacy. How, where, and what you supply can help protect you from identity theft, which is one of the new and growing pitfalls of our new electronic society. If you are shopping online, be sure the site is secure and safely encrypts the data you transmit. Look for https:// in the Web address (URL) and the secure padlock and key icon in Internet Explorer. If the site is not secure, your data and privacy may be at risk. The symbol to look for is in the figure below.
Figure 4
On e-commerce or other sites that require an e-mail address, you should take extra care that the e-mail address is only used to send you an order confirmation and/or shipping confirmation or for a specific and clearly-stated purpose. Check the sites privacy policy first. And opt out if you find that the information will be used to send you offers that you don't wish to receive or will be shared with other companies. If you're not sure of the policy or if it's not mentioned, and especially if you intend to make regular Web-based purchases, consider establishing a separate Hotmail account used only for online shopping and check it daily.
The only entities that need your Social Security number are your employer, your bank, and other financial institutions, the IRS, and possibly your health insurance provider. Don't hand over this information freely. Password protected sites can help ensure your privacy and security of the data contained and displayed. Don't select an easily guessed password; in particular, don't use your social security number, phone number, street address, birth date, or mother's maiden name. Use a combination of letters and numbers and if possible, use upper and lower case and at least one non alpha or numeric character. An example of a bad password is 12341234. A better password would be Blu!M00n (the 00's are zeros). Don't use the same password for multiple sites.
Instant Messaging and Chat
Windows Messenger is the Swiss army knife of real-time communications, and I've really enjoyed using it with friends, family, and business associates. I've written about some of its best features in previous columns, among them Windows Messenger: I'm Retiring My Telephone and My 2000 Mile Wide Conference Room. I'm a total extrovert and love communicating over the Internet, but I'm not at all interested in being contacted by total strangers in a real-time environment without my prior approval and consent.
Here are my rules of the road for instant messaging safety using Windows Messenger:
| • | Use only a first name or nickname to identify yourself, especially for the younger members of your household. |
| • | Don't use your e-mail name (the part before @hotmail.com) because this is an invitation for spammers and others to contact you. |
| • | Don't enter phone information unless you want anyone who adds you to their contact list to have this information. |
And finally, consider setting up Windows Messenger for approved contacts only to ensure that your teenagers aren't contacted by unknown adults with less than scrupulous purposes. To specify Allow and Block List settings, open Windows Messenger, and on the Tools menu, click the Privacy tab.
Figure 5
Third-party chat applications provide an exciting opportunity to have real-time communications with multiple people who share the same interests. Whether in group chat or one-on-one “whisper” sessions that are broken out from a chat room, all the common sense rules for instant messaging should be applied to. For the younger members of your family, chat rooms can pose the greatest online safety risk. Superb online resources exist with in-depth coverage of this important topic and I highly recommend starting with either Larry Magid's article, Help Children Know the Risks of Chat Rooms, or the Media Awareness Network for information on this issue.
E-Mail Safety Tips
Even your best friend or favorite uncle could unknowingly be infected with one of the many viruses loose on the Internet. The best defense is up-to-date virus protection on your computer and the added defense provided by Outlook Express 6. Be sure that Outlook Express is using the Restricted Zone for security (the default setting), and do enable the setting that prevents unsafe attachments from being run or saved. Will you miss some cute fireworks animation? Maybe, but you'll be certain not to become infected with the virus of the week, and potentially lose data.
To enable the setting that prevents unsafe attachments from being executed or saved
1. | On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Security tab. |
2. | Select the Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus check box. |
There aren't any electronic chain letters that will make you a millionaire. Don't forward them to ten friends and don't send that dollar to the bottom person on the list. Your home address and/or phone number does not belong in any e-mail sent to strangers. Be sure if you're supplying this type of personal information by e-mail that the recipient is someone you'd welcome into your home.
It's nearly impossible to avoid all unsolicited e-mail offers that find their way into your mailbox. Anything that looks too good to be true is probably an attempt to part you from your hard-earned money and leave you empty handed. Don't click the opt-out links in any SPAM you receive. In many cases, this does nothing except confirm to the sender that your e-mail address is valid and in most cases results in even more unwanted mail. Delete it, unread. To keep your mailbox under control, use Message Rules in Outlook Express (on the Tools menu, Message Rules, Mail) to create a SPAM rule and add the big buzz words like “debt, diploma, Viagra.” Use the Blocked Senders option on the Tools menu where necessary to keep e-mail from specific senders out of your mailbox.
There are extra precautions to take to ensure the safety of your kids where e-mail is concerned. You and your very young children should read e-mail together. But what if your children are teenagers, and do not want you looking over their shoulder? There are several ways to help ensure their safety:
| • | Be sure to remind your teenaged children on a regular basis to never send personal information in e-mail such as address, phone number, and to report any such requests for this type of information to you immediately. |
| • | If a stranger solicits a picture from one of your kids, be sure that to stress that they do not respond. Ask your children to report any requests for this kind of personal information to you, and ask them often. |
| • | To reinforce these common sense rules of Internet safety, you should consider an Internet Safety “contract” that both parents and children sign that outlines the responsible use of the Internet. Safekids.com and the Responsible Kids Network offer samples of basic contracts to start with, and you can add any rules you feel are appropriate. When you and your children have all signed the contract, post it on your refrigerator where it will be seen often. |
Barb Bowman enjoys sharing her own experiences and insights into today's leading edge technologies. She is a product development manager for AT&T Broadband Internet Services, but her views here are strictly personal.
