Another social networking site is starting to take some heat from law enforcement in its ability to keep sexual predators off its site. The New York Times reports that Facebook, which has positioned itself as the safe social-networking alternative because it takes greater lengths than other social networks to keep adults and under-age users apart, is now under scrutiny from Connecticut’s Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. Blumenthal’s interest comes from a few recent cases involving convicted sex offenders joining the site and from investigators finding inappropriate images and content. He also has a personal interest because his children use Facebook.
The article says Chris Kelly, the chief privacy officer at Facebook is:
“not familar with the Connecticut investigation but that the company has received ‘a number’ of such reports and usually takes down such profiles within 72 hours.”
Some of you might remember Kelly who appeared on a panel discussion at the RSA security conference last February titled Pandora’s Box – Youth and Internet Security in the Information Age. I highly recommend watching this panel discussion if you haven’t already.
