By Lynette Owens
Week of September 8, 2014
To help you keep up with what’s going on with kids, families, schools, and technology, we’ve compiled a list of stories, tips, and insights, we’ve found most useful over the past week.
ONE DAD’S EFFECITVE, POSITIVE USE OF YOUTUBE
A father, fed up with his kids’ refusal to do household chores, decided to reach them where he knew they would listen: the Internet. He created a YouTube video with detailed instructions on how to change a toilet paper roll and the video has already received over 3 million views on YouTube. Because of the video’s popularity, he’s decided to create more instructional videos for his kids.
Dear sir: could you please do one that shows kids how to hang a jacket on a hook?
GOOGLE REFUND
Google has agreed to pay at least $19 million in refunds in a settlement case involving kids making unauthorized mobile app purchases. In addition to the settlement, Google will also change its billing practices to ensure consumers are informed and consent to all purchases made within mobile apps. While these changes demonstrate the FTC’s fight to ensure consumers are not taken advantage of, parents should still be actively involved in setting up restrictions on mobile devices and teaching their kids to ask before buying.
CELEBRITY APPLE ACCOUNTS HACKED
Last week, the Apple accounts of Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton were compromised and photos of them not likely meant for public view were leaked on the Internet. It turns out, the hackers didn’t break into Apple’s systems. The hackers were able to get into their accounts by guessing their passwords (and answers to security questions associated with their accounts) or tricking them into giving up their passwords in order to gain access to the accounts. Apple is stepping up its security measures as a result.
You might say this is the price of fame, but nobody is immune from this. The best way to prevent this from happening to you or your kids is to use strong passwords, change them often, and also use Apple’s 2-step authentication feature to make sure your Apple Account is the most secure.
See you next week!
Lynette Owens is Vice President of Global Consumer Education & Marketing at Trend Micro and Founder of the Internet Safety for Kids and Families program. With 25+ years in the tech industry, Lynette speaks and blogs regularly on how to help kids become great digital citizens. She works with communities and 1:1 school districts across the U.S. and around the world to support online safety, digital and media literacy and digital citizenship education. She is a board member of the National Association for Media Literacy Education, an advisory committee member of the Digital Wellness Lab, and serves on the advisory boards of INHOPE and U.S. Safer Internet Day.
Follow her on Twitter @lynettetowens.