Personal security

Overview

In 2005 the Ministry published Foundations for Discovery  which presents a framework for development supporting early childhood education through information and communication technologies. The fifth Strategic Focus Area of the framework, Building Infrastructure, Systems, and Standards, specifically proposes the provision of guidelines to inform ECE Services’ decisions in the area of cybersafety.

A range of opportunities with respect to assisting children to

enjoy a safe online experience can be identified:

• protection from inappropriate material
• protection from unsavoury persons
• protection from exploitation which may be described as cybersafety, and
• protection from accidental harm which may be described as physical safety.

Cybersafety

Parents have a right to expect that their children, while using the internet, will be protected from objectionable and unwanted communications, content, and contacts, and from having their personal details revealed. While the comprehensive, four-layered approach consisting of:

• Technical controls, e.g. web filters:
• Non-technical controls, e.g. rules for internet use (when, where, what, how much)
• Education and Literacy, e.g. Online safety and media literacy lessons, and
• Consultation, e.g. dialogue with parents and educators

proposed by Adam Thierer  in “Parental Controls and Online Child Protection: A Survey of Tools and Methods”, will most likely lead to the best online experience for children, this document deals primarily with technical controls.  The non-technical aspects of how internet use should be controlled is also discussed.

Protection from Objectionable Material

While recognising that no web filtering system is foolproof, and setting aside the argument that filtering may result in a false sense of security and does not help children to learn who to trust or how to avoid inappropriate content, ECE Services shall implement web filtering to prevent accidental access to objectionable web material.

Filtering systems shall protect against:

• Cybersquatting (web sites which are addressed very similarly to legitimate web addresses so they are accessed accidentally)
• Links presented by search engines that lead to unsavoury web sites, and
• Spam (email that contains objectionable images and text)
• A variety of both proprietary and free systems are available, ranging from outsourced VPN services to computer-based (end user) filters.

Outsourced VPN services provide a complete and constantly up-to-date service which typically includes:

• Web Filtering to control access to sites through the internet connection
• Email Filtering to control incoming email, viruses, attachments and content
• Firewall - a managed firewall unit is provided to protect the network from external attacks

Many computer-based filters have features specifically designed to protect children from a range of internet dangers and unsuitable Web pages. Computer-based filtering systems work by using dynamic, real-time content analysis as well as using the URL filtering which blocks access to a pre-determined list of URLs.

The software can usually be customised to meet particular needs (dependent on blocking requirements and ages of children) and should not rely on a simple list of banned sites. Rather, it should examine in real-time the data being transmitted and received through all internet applications, such as web browsers, chat programs, and news readers.

The filtering technologies employed should include:

• Heuristic analysis which recognises new material automatically
• Semantic analysis of web page content, addresses and links
• Recognition of the major languages
• Recognition of the Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) labelling system
• Monitoring of all local internet traffic
• Functionality with all ISPs and software applications without having to adjust settings
• Blocking of file-sharing applications
• Password-protection
• No requirement for configuration, i.e. easy to install
• Usable on slow connections, i.e. does not do background downloads

Protection from Unsavoury Persons

Children shall be supervised when using the internet. If issues arise, supervisors shall know how to deal with them, and address them quickly.

Instant Messaging, used to send to messages to friends or strangers, and chat-rooms, used as online meeting places where people congregate to send messages to and from each other, are potential “stranger danger” areas. Unsavoury persons may use such areas to “groom” children and gain their confidence, by claiming online to be someone they are not, in order to arrange a face-to-face meeting.

It is vital that children know not to reveal their personal details to anyone they meet online and that their email correspondence is restricted to an approved list of family members and close friends.

ECE Service Supervisors shall ensure that children’s names or personal information are not published on the internet.

ECE Service Supervisors shall ensure that access to the output from any web camera, setup to monitor children or the premises, is not available for unrestricted viewing over the internet.

Protection from Exploitation

Images of children shall not be published without the informed consent of the child and the parents. Services should consider how they will respect the privacy of children by discussion with parents. Appropriate consent shall be requested for each circumstance. Generic consent may be sufficient for restricted on-line access, e.g. blogs, but specific individual consent should be sought for every image made publicly available in any medium.

Consent may not be required for images of individuals or groups if no person is identifiable.

Consent may be subject to conditions or limitations, e.g. cultural considerations, restrictions on publication or media, and time limit of consent, and these shall be included on the consent form.

Children shown in published images shall not be positively identifiable by their full name.

The work of children shall not be used for other than its primary intended educational and curriculum purpose without the informed consent of the child and the parents.  To do so would be a violation of copyright.

Guidelines for protecting children’s privacy and copyright are presented in detail for schools on the Ministry’s TKI website. Templates for consent are available for download and may be adapted for ECE Service use. The guidelines are based on the Privacy Act 1993 and the Copyright Act 1994.

Web Cameras

The introduction of web cameras to ECE Services, which enables the activities of children to be watched from afar by their parents via a web browser, has obvious commercial value, and would appear to be of interest to some parents.

An ECE Service considering such a service would need to implement secure remote access for each parent. The Service would also need to implement a strongly secure network environment with up to date operating systems, antispyware, and antivirus software to prevent unauthorised system access and keystroke logging. However, it seems unlikely that, individually, many Services could afford the cost and complexity of the type of security infrastructure that would be necessary to guard against the system being compromised from the typically insecure home computer.

Acknowledging that there is a place for web cameras in the professional development of educators, and for specific educational and developmental purposes, the reasons for connection to the internet should be carefully evaluated.  Publicly accessible web camera viewing is potentially dangerous and a Service contemplating installing web cameras should ask the following questions:

• What is the purpose and real benefit of such a service?
• How will access to the service be controlled?
• Has the informed consent of the parents been obtained?
• Has the assent of the children been obtained?
• Has the informed consent of the educators been obtained (they will be monitored as well)?
• How will visitors to the Service be informed?
• How will the transmission of inappropriate images be prevented?
• Are there safer ways for parents to engage with their children?

Physical Safety and Ergonomics

To the safety precautions normally implemented in an ECE Service must be added those for the ICT Infrastructure. Within the Ministry’s standards for cabling and networking in ECE Services are recommendations on the type, installation and location of equipment to maintain a safe environment. In the day-to-day operation of ICT equipment, other precautions must be observed.

• Electrical equipment shall be maintained in good condition at all times.
• No equipment connected to the mains power supply shall be operated in a wet environment.
• Computer screens, especially CRT types, are heavy and should be mounted on a stable surface to avoid toppling.
• Computer and power cables should be tidied and secured behind the equipment to avoid tripping and equipment being pulled off desks and on to children.
• Work area (data) cords, which have exposed terminals, shall be removed from the wall socket when terminal equipment is removed; small children may put the end of the cord in their mouths.

Screen Position and Lighting

To prevent eye strain, lighting levels in the immediate vicinity of computer screens should be controlled to permit sufficient contrast between the screen and the background.

Glare from the sun or brightly-lit surfaces through windows should be controlled by window blinds. Vertical shades may be best for reducing low-angle sunshine, particularly in east- and west-facing windows.

Desk and Chair Height

Desks should be the appropriate height for the user and chairs need to complement desk height. BECTA  presents heights for various age groups as guidelines with a caution that children’s heights vary widely.

The selection of seating is complex and not covered herein.  However, when sitting at a computer children do need to be seated with their eyes level with the top of the screen.

To achieve the correct posture when working, the lower arms should be roughly horizontal, knees should fit comfortably under the desk with the thighs roughly horizontal, and the back should be kept straight.

Keyboard and Mouse

Recognising that children have much smaller hands and less dexterity than an adult, a smaller mouse and a keyboard with larger keys may be easier for children to use. Both are available in New Zealand.

Wireless Access

The “safe” installation of wireless access points is included in the Ministry Standard for Networking in ECE Services but to reiterate, wireless access points should be installed by specialists in compliance with recognised industry standards and best practice. While there are some similarities between the technologies used in mobile phones and wireless networking, the key difference is in the power output. The output from wireless access devices is significantly less than mobile phone handsets and transmitters.

The National Radiation Laboratory considers that the health research carried out to date shows that working and studying in areas with wireless access equipment poses no health and safety risks to adults or children.