Last year, 14-year-old Breck Bednar was murdered by 19-year-old Lewis Daynes whom he met via an online games forum. His mother has advised parents and guardians to monitor the online activity of their children. This unfortunate case highlights the dangers to children in the digital world, which cause serious concern to parents, teachers and regulators as well as technology developers and vendors. When children are young, we can control their online experience by filtering content and deciding which apps to allow them to download. But as they grow up, the position becomes complex.
Online games and social media help children develop motor and social skills. If they are having problems, they can find online support and advice – anonymously if they need to. Developments like eye-gaze technology free physically disabled children from isolation by allowing them to text their friends and surf the web.
But online freedom brings online dangers. Exposure to bullying as well as inappropriate images, influences and people existed long before the internet. There were awareness campaigns highlighting stranger danger. Digital technology platforms extrapolate these dangers: there are more strangers online and they are harder to identify. Parents have expressed concern about the potential dangers of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) and apps such as Talking Angela.
Connected and protected
The digital holy grail is for children and young people to be connected and protected. But how can we achieve this online, where regulation is limited and difficult to enforce? The answer is education. Safer Internet Day – a global initiative for promoting safe and positive use of digital technology for children and young people – was held on 10 February 2015. The obvious place to start is online. Websites such as Internet Matters offer guidance by age group, moving from parental controls to building awareness.
On the other side of the coin, parents’ concerns present a commercial value proposition – technology that enables parents to track their children online. TeenSafe has 800,000 users in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and is hoping to expand to the UK.
But this approach carries legal and moral implications. Surveillance technology is illegal in the UK, except in particular circumstances such as police investigations, and makers of apps such as Mobistealth and Mspy include disclaimers on their websites about getting the device owner’s permission before installing the software, which may not be an issue if the parent is also the owner of the phone. But tracking is not the answer as tech-savvy teenagers will find a way around the software if they want to. More seriously, from a moral perspective, it demonstrates a lack of trust which could be to the detriment of family relationships.
The dilemma is that parents need to allow their children some freedom while maintaining vigilance, especially around younger children online. “We do not want them to click on a link and inadvertently lose their innocence,” said the mother of a tech-savvy eight-year-old.
Privacy rules represent the key regulatory consideration for children’s games developers, explains Anthony Waller, partner at Olswang, a law firm that advises well-known mobile games developers. “The most successful online games designed for children have no ‘human interaction’ – players use avatars and are not asked to share personal or contact details,” he explains, adding that Disney talks about the “wall” around its Club Penguin MMORPG. “Although avatars communicate with each other, the site is curated and any player behaving inappropriately will be kicked out of the game.” Club Penguin also publishes video guidance directed at children “Be Cool, Be Heard, Be Safe!” which includes instructions on how to report anyone breaking the rules and a safety quiz warning players not to share personal information. Developers designing apps for children below the age of 14 need to consider advertising and consumer rules, adds Waller.
The dangers of in-app purchases
This is not just about children’s personal safety. It is also about protecting them from inappropriate advertising and – not least – online purchasing opportunities. There have been various horror stories about children clocking up huge bills for in-app purchases. This is an unfortunate side-effect of the freemium model whereby a game is free to download, but offers in-app purchases. Once you are in the game, you don’t need to enter a password to make a purchase. The same applies to SMS emojis, which are not always included in mobile contracts.
How does this happen? It’s often because children are allowed to play games on their parents’ smartphones and tablets. It has been suggested that overuse of smartphones can hinder children’s social-emotional development. But children play with smartphones because we do. This development is a function of connectivism: how we use the internet for non-learning purposes affects how we do other things. We check our phones and tablets when we are bored – on public transport, for example – and we allow our children to play on them for the same reason. Once again something parents have always done – find distractions for children on long car journeys, or when they need to do something else – has become emotive when transferred to the digital space.
Significantly, regulators and vendors are sharing the collective responsibility for children’s use of digital technology. In February 2014 the European Commission announced that it was investigating freemium apps, especially in games that target children, and asked Apple and Google not to designate them as free. In January 2014, Apple agreed to refund $32.5m (£21m) to consumers for in-app purchases made by children.
Last week Apple gave special placement to gaming apps that don’t offer in-app purchases, introducing a new section called Pay Once & Play on the front page of its App Store.
Maintaining consumer trust
This is laudable, but it’s not just about moral responsibility. “Digital businesses depend on consumer trust and that is probably a bigger driver than what the law might say,” observes Waller. The relationship between retaining consumer trust and market share highlights potential opportunities around making technology safe and appropriate for children.
Scott Ross, chief technology officer at marketing and technology agency DigitasLBi explains that products and apps that may be used by children need to be different from those designed for adults – because children use technology differently. “The fact that children are fundamentally curious means they will find their way around conventional filters,” he explains. “So creating kid-friendly versions of apps – with no advertising or in-app purchase options – represents a commercial opportunity for developers and marketers. Parents want to buy apps that give their children a great experience, and they will realise the value of spending a little extra on apps that recognise children as a different audience.” Parents also represent an untapped marketing resource. “Developers should take advantage of existing online forums to discover what goes into giving children a great online experience.” Waller suggests there is also an opportunity for smartphone providers to introduce a kid-friendly mode which can be switched on and off like airplane mode and blocks inappropriate content and purchasing options.
Internet culture is shifting. Technology will outpace regulation, so self-regulation is the way forward. The games community is taking the lead, with console games developers’ PEGI age ratings – Waller suggests that there is an opportunity for apps developers to provide similar guidance – and, as the player demographic becomes increasingly intergenerational, forums such as LINE taking collective responsibility for controlling content. The tag line for Safer Internet Day is: “Let’s create a better internet together”. And perhaps we will. Digital businesses already recognise that future generations will do things differently and are working to engage them.
Joanna Goodman is a writer and editor. Follow her on Twitter @JoannaMG22
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