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Internet Safety Technical Task Force (ISTTF) Open Meeting

Tuesday, September 23, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Wednesday, September 24, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Ropes Gray Room, Pound Hall, Harvard Law School
Free and open to the public; seating is first-come-first-served.
This event was webcast live on 9/23-24.

The Internet Safety Technical Task Force (ISTTF) is a group of Internet businesses, non-profit organizations, academics, and technology companies that have joined together to identify effective tools and technologies to create a safer environment on the Internet for youth. It was created in February 2008 in accordance with the "Joint Statement on Key Principles of Social Networking Safety" announced by the Attorneys General Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking and MySpace in January 2008. The scope of the ISTTF’s inquiry is to consider those technologies that industry and end users can utilize to keep children and youth safe on the Internet, with a focus on preventing harmful contact with adults and with other minors. [January 14, 2009 update: the final report of the Task Force is now available.]

SUMMARY | September 23 agenda, tech presentations, videos | September 24 agenda, tech presentations, videos | ADDITIONAL TECHNOLOGY SUBMISSIONS


SUMMARY

On September 23-24, 2008, at Harvard Law School, the Berkman Center hosted a day and a half-long public meeting of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force. The purpose of this meeting was to give members of the public an opportunity to learn about the work of the Task Force, to explore the different technology-related problems and solutions under consideration, and to raise questions and share ideas about the complex reality of youth online behavior.

The agenda for Tuesday, September 23, included remarks by Attorneys General Martha Coakley (MA) and Richard Blumenthal (CT), followed by 15 presentations of internet safety tools utilizing a variety of technologies, including age verification, biometrics, filtering and auditing, text analysis, and combinations thereof. The 15 presenters were selected from the 38 companies that submitted technologies for consideration by the Task Force. Selection of companies to present was geared towards providing a cross-section of the current technology landscape in the context of the problem at hand, including the practical limitations and potential social/policy implications of different kinds of solutions, so as to facilitate public discourse and collective learning. The presentations were intended to help illuminate important aspects of the whole problem of youth online safety, and what makes it a difficult and elusive problem to solve. Selection to present was in no way intended as an endorsement of any one technology or company over any other that participated in the process. All 38 companies that submitted to the Task Force were invited to participate in an open poster session during the public meeting.

On Wednesday, September 24, participants heard presentations by two leading social network sites regarding recent measures they have undertaken to make their sites safer for youth, followed by a first-hand youth perspective on how teens currently use and experience such sites. The public meeting concluded with an open discussion session.

The full agenda follows, with links to videos, presentation slides, and technology submissions.

AGENDA

Internet Safety Technical Task Force
Public Meeting Day, September 23, 2008
Ropes Gray Room, Pound Hall, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts

9:00-10:00 -- Poster Session

10:00-10:30 -- Welcome: John Palfrey, ISTTF Chair
Attorney General Martha Coakley
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal
Attorney General Roy Cooper (invited)

10:30-11:45 -- Age Verification Group #1
(4 presentations; 15 minutes each, with 5 minutes transition time)

-Public Records
Aristotle (10:30-10:45) - confirmed [presentation PPT]
IDology (10:50-11:05) - confirmed [presentation PPT]
Sentinel [A.D.A.P.T.][Kid SAFE][SAFE] (11:10-11:25) - confirmed [presentation PPT]
BeenVerified (11:30-11:45) – confirmed [presentation PPT]

11:45-12:45 – Lunch
Speaker: Nancy Willard, Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use - invited [presentation]

12:45-2:00 – Age Verification Group #2 (4 presentations; 15 minutes each, with 5  minutes transition time)
-School-based/tokens
Microsoft (12:45-1:00) - confirmed [presentation PPT]
e-Guardian (1:05-1:20) - confirmed [presentation PPT]

-Peer-to-Peer
Assert ID (1:25-1:40) - confirmed [presentation PPT]

-Biometrics
VerificAge [update] (1:45-2:00) - confirmed [presentation PPT]

2:00-2:15 – Break

2:15-3:50 – Filtering/Auditing (5 presentations; 15 minutes each, with 5 minutes transition time)
ContentWatch/Net Nanny (2:15-2:30) - confirmed [presentation PPT]
Symantec (2:35-2:50) - confirmed [presentation PPT]
McGruff SafeGuard (2:55-3:10) - confirmed [presentation PPT]
Keibi (3:15-3:30) - confirmed [presentation PPT]
SpectorSoft (3:35-3:50) - confirmed [presentation PPT]

3:55-4:10 – Text Analysis
EthoSafe (3:55-4:10) - confirmed [presentation PPT]

4:15-4:50 – Combining Multiple Technologies and Authentication Tools
icouldbe.org (4:15-4:30) - confirmed [presentation PPT]
Phillip Hallam-Baker, VeriSign (4:35-4:50) - confirmed [presentation PPT]

Technology presentations were strictly limited to 15 minutes per company: 5 minutes of overview using a specified template of 3 slides and 10 minutes for questions from the Task Force, Technology Advisory Board, and the public.

Internet Safety Technical Task Force
Public Meeting Day, September 24, 2008
Ropes Gray Room, Pound Hall, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts

9:00-9:15 -- Welcome: John Palfrey, ISTTF Chair

9:15-10:45 -- Social Network Sites (30 minutes each)
Facebook [video presentation][presentation PDF]

MySpace [video presentation][presentation PDF]

10:45-11:00 -- Break

11:00-11:15 -- Youth Perspective: WiredSafety's Teenangels [presentation PPT]

11:15-11:45 -- Open Discussion of Technologies Presented

11:45-12:00 Conclusion/Networking

ADDITIONAL TECHNOLOGY SUBMISSIONS

The following companies submitted technology solutions to the Technology Advisory Board, but were not formally presenting at the meeting on September 23.

Choicepoint
Credint
Covenant Eyes [Unfiltered Version][Filter Plus Accountability]
DeepNines (Poster Session)
Appen Speech and Language Technology [DSPT][TAT] (Poster Session)
Privo/Parity (Poster Sesion)
Privo
PureSight Technologies Ltd.
ALIAS Technology LLC
Chatsafe
ChatSafe (Patent Pending) (Poster Session) [update]
Identity Corp
Infoglide Software Corporation
NetIDme Ltd
SaferSpace/Zemerick Software, Inc.
Kelly Maloney/RedStarhs (Poster Session) [update]
EthoSafe (Poster Session)
Gemalto, Inc.
RelyID
GenMobi Technologies, Inc.
InternetSafety.com, Inc.
Portcard (Poster Session)
Kidsnet

 

Download media from this event here.

Past Event
Sep 23, 2008 - Sep 24, 2008
Time
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

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