The Cocoon Blog
The Internet as it should be: private, secure and virus free

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that U.S. food companies are reaching children by embedding their products in mobile game apps. I downloaded a few games this morning and was not impressed.

It is too easy for a child to click a mobile ad; the “x”(to close the ad)  is minimal, while the ad itself is splashed across the screen. If you were a young child, would you click on the small x or the over-sized graphic?

My App Review: The SuperPretzel Factory by Sunstorm Interactive may be entertaining for a young child – the child presses different mixer buttons as she/he attempts to fill as many pans with dough as possible before the timer runs out. Most likely they will get frustrated when they make it to level four, only to find a broken cart that will not move to catch the falling pretzels. If you look at this particular game app from an adult perspective – the game consists of approximately 95 percent locked areas and advertising.

The food-industry games generally have rudimentary graphics and objectives simple enough for small children to understand. They have raised debate over who should be responsible for their impact on children—parents or the government. –The Wall Street Journal

Childhood Obesity

Nearly one in five U.S. kids between the ages of 2-19 are overweight. Parents play a crucial role in the prevention of childhood obesity. Teaching children how to select healthy food options begins in the home. Digital technology games can detract from healthy lifestyle choices by luring the child to concentrate on junk food.

“We know that when children are engaged, they learn, so when mobile apps are fun, entertaining and developmentally appropriate, they can be powerful educational tools.” Lesli Rotenberg, Senior Vice President, Children’s Media, PBS.

A Note to Parents 

Be aware of how your child is interacting with games on mobile devices. Children rely upon you to provide appropriate stepping stones as they meander through a digital world filled with advertising.

It’s estimated that 38% of Facebook’s 20 million minors are under the website’s required age of 13 (NineMSN). The likelihood that a Facebook user protects their privacy by restricting those who can see their profile drops dramatically when the user is younger than 13. That leaves millions of children vulnerable to phishing, facial recognition abuse, and severe profiling. Open Wi-Fi networks at schools, airports, homes, and business are perhaps the most dangerous facet of browsing, because they make the user susceptible to Wi-Fi sniffing, data theft, and so on.

Our President and CEO of Virtual World Computing, Vernon Irvin, has posted a guide for keeping kids safe online for the National Cyber Security Alliance at the StaySafeOnline.org blog. Find out what you can do today to protect our kids online.

Virtual World Computing, developer of the Cocoon online privacy solution, is announcing a new collaboration with child-safety advocate Marc Klaas’KlaasKids Foundation that aims to harness the power of social networking to protect children from predators and abusive marketers alike.

While immediately giving parents a tool to manage which websites their kids can access, a top priority of the collaboration will be the creation of a parent-sourced “white list” of recommended websites. This tool will join Cocoon’s other online security and privacy tools which include eliminating corporate tracking of children, protecting the family computer from harmful downloads of viruses and malware, and helping parents manage their family’s online lifestyle.

“We are proud to announce this collaboration in large part because, since KlaasKids began in 1994, it has always been about social solutions and distribution of information,” said Jeff Bermant, co-founder and Executive Chairman of Virtual World Computing.

Marc Klaas, who became a missing person’s advocate after his daughter Polly Hannah Klaas was kidnapped and murdered in a high-profile 1993 case, said the collaboration offers a chance to advance the KlaasKids mission.

“The predators out there have certainly embraced new technology,” Klaas said. “They might understand your child’s iPhone better than you do and much of this new location-identifying technology should really give us pause. Cocoon’s solutions offer an immediate chance to address some of those threats while protecting from marketers who might be unduly targeting our kids.”

In addition to its collaboration with KlaasKids, Virtual World Computing works with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to implement an automated “blacklist” updated daily to help assure that the Cocoon service is off limits to online child predators.

Society has an obligation to protect our children and online safety for children should be a priority. We need a three-pronged approach to address this issue: policy changes; industry self-regulation; and more parental tools, monitoring and education. –Vernon Irvin | President & COO of Virtual World Computing

 

“The message from parents, as witnessed from behavior, is clear. Children grow up learning that posting pictures of one’s self and sharing personal information is typical. We’ve created a sense of normality about a world where what’s private is public. The sense of being entitled to privacy has been devalued.”   –Aisha Sultan and Jon Miller, Special to CNN

 

 

Whether you have your grandchildren over for a few hours or a weekend visit, it is very important to be aware of how your grandchildren use digital technologies. Learning how to use the latest Internet technologies can become an important tool in interacting with your grandchildren.

According to Kaiser Family Foundation, Generation M (8-18 years old) spend 7 hours and 38 minutes a day using entertainment media. Whether it is through television, computer, smartphone or other electronic device – a Generation M child could potentially be connected to entertainment media 53 hours per week. With the growth of child media consumption, academic work could suffer and behavior problems could arise.

“Whether you are 5, 40 or 75 years old, whether you use the internet once a month or several times a day – each person has something different to bring to the table that can help shape our online experiences and our understanding of online competences and safety. We all have a role to play in ensuring that every child is safe online.” -SaferInternet.org

Grandparents.com offers strong advice on how to keep kids safe online: “These days every parent or grandparent has to teach children how to navigate our very connected world. According to a recent survey by Intel, kids on average start using desktop computers at age five-and-a-half and laptops at seven-and-a-half. So when do adults need to have the tech equivalent of the birds and the bees talk with children?”

There are many ways that you can become Internet and computer savvy too! Take Internet classes at a local community college (many classes are offered free for retirees and seniors).  Check local resources to see what is offered in your community. There are also many online tutorials available such as The Senior’s Guide to Computers, Facebook for Senior Citizens and Online Computer Tutorials.

4 Internet Safety Tips for Grandparents

1. Be aware of parental guidelines – Do your grandchildren have clear rules at home about Internet use? Age-based guidelines for kid’s Internet use by Microsoft is a good place to start. If the family does not have an online safety contract agreement, as a concerned grandparent you could suggest that the parents check it out here.
2. Keep entertainment media in the common room – It is much more difficult for an online stalker or bully to communicate with your grandchild when the computer or electronic device is in the same room as you.
3. Check Out Where Your Grandchildren Go Online – Ask questions! Don’t fret about being uncool – be curious!
4. Keep tabs on entertainment media consumption – How much time do your grandchildren spend connected? Every minute that they spend in your home does not mean that they have to remain connected. Arrange activities that are not always online.

 Cocoon Resources

Currently we offer am ultra-COOL FREE Firefox Plug-in (available for Internet Explorer too!) that creates a new way for people to browse the web privately and securely with total freedom from viruses, malware and online tracking. Cocoon hides your identity and IP address behind a protective barrier that gives you control over what you choose to share or not share. Cocoon also encrypts your connection to the web and make every site you visit as safe as visiting your online bank.

You can find out more about our product by visiting us here.

Avast recently reported that some child game sites have become the latest target of hackers. If the child is playing games on a shared family computer – malware can affect all family members who login to the family computer. If the child has their own computer, it should be checked on a regular basis (by an adult) for potential cybercriminal activities. All computers in the household should have regular updates of antivirus and other security software.

In recent years online games have become a modus for hackers. Hackers can make that big purple dragon that flies to Taragath Land look like an exciting adventure to a five year old. Remember, children often do not stop and think before clicking on a malicious link. It is very important that parents monitor a child’s online activities to protect them from unsavory areas of the web.

Avast says the most visited site affected – cutearcade.com – had generated more than 12,600 infection reports from its protection software as of last week. –BBC News

Cocoon offers protection from malware and drive-by-downloads. Once logged into Cocoon, no information touches your hard drive because it is all stored on our servers. The hackers can’t get to you or your children. It is currently available as a Firefox plug-in, but will soon arrive with a few more flavors (Internet Explorer and IOS).

The Cocoon Team!