Safer Internet Day is marked on 8th February each year. To mark the importance of the day for both businesses and everyday users, Digital Journal asked Miles Hutchinson, CISO of Jumio, for his thoughts.
For 2022, the theme for Safer Internet Day is “Together for a better Internet”. This has the aim of joining together to make the Internet a safer and better place for all, especially for children and young people.
Safer Internet Day, which was first developed by the European Union, is recognized internationally and the approach to safety is with raising awareness with young people and their parents or guardians for children’s online safety, security and privacy.
Looking at the importance of Safer Internet Day Hutchinson states: “Safer Internet Day promotes the safe and positive use of digital technology for children and young people. The younger generation increasingly relies on technology for everyday activities and positive experiences such as interacting with their friends, virtual learning, gaming, social media and more.”
While the Internet should be promoted, there are dangers as well says Hutchinson: “For all the positives, some dangers can’t be ignored. For instance, younger people can unknowingly overshare and post private information online, access inappropriate content, fall victim to identity theft or be approached by hidden predators.”
Most phones, tablets and devices allow for you to set parental controls which will only allow access to approved websites and content. However, can technology companies consider doing more?
As an example of the types of measures being considered, Hutchinson finds: “While there has been significant discourse amongst large corporations about implementing stricter age and identity verification measures, not much progress has been made.”
In other words, technology companies make the correct noises but this is not often translating into action.
There is much more that can be done, as Hutchinson opines: “Organizations can do their own due diligence to promote a safer internet by strengthening security protocols to prevent young people from accessing inappropriate or age-restricted content. For example, utilizing stronger identity and age verification capabilities like biometric authentication to confirm a user is actually the age they are claiming to be.”
Hutchinson concludes by recommending: “By properly verifying users and regulating age-restricted content, organizations can contribute to a safer internet community and keep younger people out of harm’s way.”
