How do you know if online programs and services are safe? Part 1: The three-legged stool

How do you know if a service is safe? This is one of the questions I get asked most frequently about such services as blogging, instant messaging, dating, and video sharing.

Determining a service’s safe enough for you is first and foremost a personal decision based on your own circumstances, values, level of Internet experience, and whether you are a risk taker or are more risk averse by nature. If you’re a parent or guardian evaluating products or services for your child, then their age, level, and interests may also be contributing factors.

A safe online environment is like a three legged stool where education, safety tools and framework, and enforcement are the legs that together provide the support and stability needed. Without every leg in place, the stool will topple and the user risks getting get hurt.

In the coming days, I’ll explore each "leg" of the stool and recommend questions you should ask before you use a product or service.

• Leg one: Safety information about any Internet product or service should be easy to find and understand.
• Leg two: Companies should clearly set out exactly what they’ve done to create a safer environment and explain how you can use those tools to create a safer online experience.
• Leg three: Sites need to focus on building in enforcement tools and creating ways to work with law enforcement to pursue and punish crooks.

Once you know the answers, you can more confidently make the right choices for you and your family—whether to use a service without reservation, use it after limiting features or content to suit you, or reject the service as being inadequate for your purposes.

Linda

Read Part 2 (safety education).