Protecting children's privacy online

Date: Wednesday 5 August 2009
Time: 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Location: To be confirmed upon enrolment
Contact: For further information regarding this event, please contact Anne Welford by sending email to anne.welford@canterbury.ac.nz or by calling 364 2987 x4860
Audience: The general public

Community Education in association with the Department of Accounting and Information Systems present:

Protecting Children's Privacy Online - a public lecture by visiting Erskine Fellow Professor France Belanger

A paramount concern of individuals using the Internet is the protection of their privacy, especially their children’s privacy. As a group, children use the Internet more than any other demographic set. A major issue is that with even the simple promise of a small prize, children can be easily convinced to share personal information. Many organizations, such as the Center for Democracy and Training (CDT), a privately-funded policy group, suggest that parents stay aware of what children are doing online by placing computers in open areas and using the Internet with their children. However, our research illustrates that parents are unaware of the laws, regulations, and technologies available to protect their children’s privacy.

The purpose of this presentation is to raise awareness of parents as to what children are doing online and to provide them with a primer on protecting the privacy of their children online.

France Bélanger is Professor and Alumni Research Fellow in the Department of Accounting and Information Systems at Virginia Tech. Her research focuses on the use of communication technologies, in particular for distributed work and e-business, and on information privacy and security. She is widely published in the information systems field, including in such journals as Information Systems Research, MIS Quarterly, Communications of the ACM, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, various IEEE Transactions, Information Systems Journal, and many others. Dr. Bélanger co-authored the books E-Business Technologies (2003), and Evaluation and Implementation of Distance Learning: Technologies, Tools and Techniques (2000). She is Associate Editor of MIS Quarterly. Her work has been funded by several agencies, corporations and research centres, including the National Science Foundation. She was named a Fulbright Distinguished Chair in 2006 (Portugal) and an Erskine Fellow in 2009 (New Zealand).

Enrolment in this lecture is free for UC staff and students and $10.00 for the general public. Please call 364 2987 ext 4860 to enrol.