It’s official! The Task Force to focus on identifying effective online safety tools and technologies, including age and identity verification has been created and was announced today. If you recall, this Task Force was an important element in the MySpace and Attorneys General Multi-State Working Group announced last month.
The Task Force is being led by John Palfrey who is the Executive Director at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. And among its members are organizations concerned with this issue including Non-Profits, Academics, Prominent Internet Businesses and Technology Companies, of which IDology is one of the appointed members. Other member names you will recognize are AOL, Symantec, Microsoft, Verizon, Google, Facebook, Xanga, Yahoo, WiredSafety.org and more.
Personally I’m excited about this opportunity. In the press release issued by the Berkman Center today, Palfrey says:
“We should work together – private firms, technologists, experts from the non-profit world and leaders in government – to solve online safety issues as a joint effort.”
I couldn’t agree more with Palfrey. The task force faces a very difficult issue where there are differing opinions. I believe all of its members need to keep an open mind and a team approach if we are going to make headway in solving this problem to create a safe online environment for our children.
I look forward to having healthy, productive discussions on the issues at hand.
