On Monday, I mentioned the new set of guidelines presented by MySpace and the Attorneys General. I highly recommend that all parents read the full text of the guidelines. (If you are unable to open the document, please download Adobe Reader).
Honestly, I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. MySpace has agreed to implement a variety of safety measures for teens will would enhance their privacy and limit adult access to their profiles. Parents will be also able to submit their children's email addresses to a database to block their ability to register for a MySpace account. In theory, these are great ideas. But the entire system relies on the birth dates that are entered upon registration with the site (and which can be changed at any time). There is no way for MySpace to know whether a teen is masquerading as an adult, or vice versa. As for email addresses, they are not difficult to come by. Blocking home-based email accounts will just encourage kids to register for anonymous web-based accounts, which are virtually untraceable for parents.
According to the Dallas Morning News, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott agrees. The only U.S. Attorney General to not endorse the guidelines, Abbott stated in a letter to MySpace, "We cannot endorse any initiative that that fails to implement a reliable age verification system. Doing so would give Texas parents and their children a false sense of security."
I'd like to see something along the lines of the credit card system used to verify ages for adult sites. Since credit card applications must be guaranteed by an adult 18 years or older, this would provide an extra insurance that the registrant is an adult or has adult approval. Yes, it's not ideal for adults using the site, but it's hardly the end of the world. In fact, social networking sites could charge a nominal fee to alert the owner of the credit card that it has been used to register for a new account.It's still not foolproof, but I suspect that most kids aren't so motivated to get an 18+ MySpace account that they'll steal a credit card to do so.
Hey, any entrepreneurs out there? Someone should create a card that acts like a credit card, but has the sole purpose of verifying your age online.
Anyway, I think it's a step in the right direction, but there's a long way to go before this is going to resolve the worst of the issues of social networking sites. And, of course, it's still up to other sites as to whether they'll choose to follow the guidelines. I'd love to be a fly on the wall during those task force meetings!
What do you think?
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Hi Christy,
I agrees. It seems MySpace have taken a step in the right direction, but not really gone far enough. As for a virtual ID card for under 18s, check out
Thanks! I hadn’t heard of those… I wonder if they’ll take off.