By Lynette Owens
Below is an excerpt from a guest for VentureBeat on April 8, 2014. The full post can be found @ http://ow.ly/vyAQU
From the moment our kids are born, a digital paper trail on them begins. It starts with a record of their birth, progresses to immunizations and growth charts, grades and school performance, and now includes information collected from websites, apps and beyond.
Data collection on kids is happening in places online and off, and it’s nearly impossible for parents to keep up with the current pace.
From playgrounds to PlayStations
In schools, student data collection is fueling the growth of an $8 billion educational technology software market thanks to the Common Core standards’ need for student testing and assessment.FERPA, the federal law designed to protect student data, should be enough to protect this newly gathered information. But it actually does little when it’s in the hands of non-educational institutions.
What should be of greater concern are some of the newer ways data is gathered through immersive entertainment experiences, such as motion-sensing games and amusement parks. The argument from data collectors: let us track lots of information on you, and we’ll give you a highly personalized experience. The price for fun? Your privacy.
Read the rest on VentureBeat @ http://ow.ly/vyAQU
And follow Lynette on Twitter @lynettetowens
Lynette Owens is Vice President of Consumer Education & Marketing at Trend Micro and Founder of the company's signature Internet Safety for Kids and Families program. With 30+ years in the tech industry, Lynette oversees global initiatives to help deliver the technology tools and education that people of all ages need to keep themselves and their families safe online. She serves on the advisory boards of the Identity Theft Resource Center's Alliance for Identity Resilience, the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, and INHOPE.