Filtering, CIPA, Internet Safety, and Your Sanity Art Wolinsky Andy Carvin

Online Safety Timeline  1994 Comdex Meeting on Child Safety  1995 Marty Rimm Report  1995 SafeSearch Rating System, PICS  1995 Commercial Filters  1996 CDA  1996 RSACi implemented in browsers  1998 COPA  1999 COPPA  2000 COPA Commission Report  2000 CoSN – Safeguarding the Wired Schoolhouse  2000 CIPA passed  2001 FCC issues rules  2001 Congress reports back to itself  1994 Comdex Meeting on Child Safety  1995 Marty Rimm Report  1995 SafeSearch Rating System, PICS  1995 Commercial Filters  1996 CDA  1996 RSACi implemented in browsers  1998 COPA  1999 COPPA  2000 COPA Commission Report  2000 CoSN – Safeguarding the Wired Schoolhouse  2000 CIPA passed  2001 FCC issues rules  2001 Congress reports back to itself

CIPA Requirements  Certify compliance or undertaking action by Oct. 27, 2001  Must be in compliance by July 1, 2001  Implement technical means of protecting against pornographic images or other harmful material.  Internet safety policy and procedures  Monitor student Internet access

Technical Means of Protection  Filters  Rating systems and standards  Closed systems

Filters  All filters over-block and under block  Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder  Only one part of the solution  No two filters are created equal

Internet Safety Policy  Not just the AUP –Blanket term for all policies and procedures –Includes filtering protection All computers must be filters to protect against access to visual depictions if they are: (1) obscene, (2) child pornography, or (3) "harmful to minors." Adults not held to same protection standards  Must address –Access by minors to inappropriate material –Safety and security when using real-time communication –Unauthorized access ie. Hacking –Privacy –Monitoring procedures

Public Meeting  Doesn’t have to be a separate meeting  Can be part of a regular board meeting  May be advertised in same manner as board meeting (or more widely advertised)

What is…  Obscene?  Child pornography?  Harmful to minors?  Inappropriate material IT’S UP TO YOU TO DECIDE!

Monitoring Internet Access  Adult monitoring is not required  Computer logs  Teachers supervision  Packet sniffing?

CIPA Problems  Emphasis on filtering is wrong –Removes local control –May give false sense of security –Legitimizes censors  Discounts critical thinking and Information Literacy  Places accountability on schools instead of filtering companies

CIPA Positives  Well intentioned  Raises an awareness of problems  Forces schools to act in a positive manner

Starting the Process  Start with curricular and pedagogical questions first  Use guide questions from CoSN  Decide on technology implementation later

Reality Check  Too late. The decision is made and the filter is in place  Make lemonade from lemons  Do steps in previous slide  Configure filter and set policies to best match your decisions

If CIPA is Struck Down?  Not likely to happen in the near future  Only public libraries are challenging CIPA  Schools will still be responsible  If you don’t want to filter, put programs and policies in place that will allow you to turn off the filter with minimal impact.

Two Words on Preparing for Unfiltered Access or CIPA Information Literacy

Planning Questions from CoSN

Do you want students to be able to direct their own learning or is it more important for teachers to retain control of what goes on in the classroom?

Should different standards be applied, based on the age of the student?

Should school employees be subject to the same rules as students, to their own set of rules or to no rules?

Would you prefer to simply monitor how employees and students use the Internet, rather than blocking their access to sites?

Are there other issues that you want to address at the same time?

How will school officials respond if students are found to be accessing inappropriate material?

Who should make the decision on what kind of sites are blocked or accessed?

What kinds of content are you concerned about?

What has the experience been with the solution you propose to use?

How are users notified when they try to access a blocked site?

Does the proposed solution address other forms of content besides just Web sites?

How easy would it be for a child to hack into and disable a particular filtering solution?

Does the proposed solution incorporate advertising messages? Will third parties be able to collect information about how your students are accessing the Internet?

If your students speak many different languages, does your proposed solution control access to sites written in languages other than English?

How will the proposed solution serve your district in the future?