Buckle In For Safety On The Web

Larry Magid's Tips For Parents, Kids On Privacy & Safety Online

(CBS)  When using the blog feature, there is a privacy option for each item. By default, all items are public but you can also select Diary (only you can see it), Friends (only accessible to people you've let in as friends), or Preferred List (a specific list of people you authorize to see this posting).

And here's something else to remember: any privacy settings a user chooses for a blog will not be carried over into the user's main profile page – for users over age 16, that page is always public.

Users should be careful about responding to messages they receive through MySpace or via email. In some cases, you may get a message that may appear to come from MySpace inviting you to join a group, take a survey or post comments on a page.

Don't respond unless you know the person or group. Users should also be very careful about accepting new "friends" unless they know them from the real world.

Beware of Surveys

MySpace encourages users to complete a profile questionnaire that asks about interests and favorite music, movies and TV shows as well as their religion, habits (smoking, drinking), educational level, income level, marital status, sexual preference, and whether you want or have kids.

You don't have to fill out this information but many users do. One reason, observes Kevin Farnham - author of the upcoming book "MySpace Safety: 51 Tips for Teens and Parents" - is that teens and other students are accustomed to being presented with forms that they just fill out.

Farnham advises users to be careful of the default settings. "By default, MySpace displays a great of information which, in some cases, you can turn off." The service also encourages students to post the name of their school and year of graduation - which others can use to help locate user profiles.

There are also some very popular third party surveys that kids can fill out and post to their pages. Some of these ask a lot of personal questions about likes, dislikes, personal feelings, drug use and sexual practices.

Answers to such questions, if viewed by a would-be predator, could be used to exploit potential victims.

Monitoring Your Child's Site

The ideal way to monitor your child's site is to visit it often to look around. If your child is under 16 and has a private profile, have him or her add you as a friend so you can view it. If your child is over 16, ask for the web address of his or her site.

Even if your child doesn't provide you with that information, you might still be able to find it.

If your child has a public profile you – or anyone – can find their MySpace site provided you know what to look for. To access the MySpace search feature, go to MySpace.com, click on Search under the MySpace logo (not the search box to the right of the logo) and type in your child's name, e-mail address or what you think might be their "display name" (kind of a nickname) and check the appropriate "search by" option just above the place where you type (in some cases it might require that you be a MySpace member to access information. If so, go ahead and signup for a free account).

If the information you're searching for appears in your child's profile, you will get to a page where can view the profile - if it's public. If it's private, you will see some information - but not the full profile.

Of course, it is quite possible for your child to sign up using a different name and an e-mail address you might not be aware of (anyone can get free email addresses from services like Hotmail and Yahoo).

Another way a parent might search for a son or daughter is to use the Classmate finder option in the search area. Locate the child's school by name and state and once you get to the school, you can narrow the search by gender, age range and whether your child is a current student or year of graduation. Because some kids lie about their age, it's best to choose the age range from 16 to 100.

It might not work, but you can also try searching MySpace as well as Google and other search engines for other information such as your child's cell phone number, street address or anything else that might show up on the web or in a profile.