EU security agency calls for policing of social network

(Source)

Top EU security agency calls for policing of social networks
ENISA asks for new legislation to protect people from the risks of sites such as Facebook and MySpace


By Paul Meller, IDG News Service

May 27, 2008

Europe's top Internet security agency, ENISA, called Tuesday for new legislation to police social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.


"Social networking sites are very useful social tools but we must make recommendations for how to better protect people from the risks these sites create," said Andreas Pirotti, executive director of ENISA (European Network and Information Security Agency).

He suggested that EU legislation be expanded "to cover the taking of photos of people and posting them on the internet," he said, adding that currently there is no need to get a person's consent in order to post a photo of them.

He also said there is a "crucial need" to raise awareness about how social networking sites work. Few people realize that they can be offered up as friends to people they don't know. Also, many people don't realize that it's almost impossible to erase material once it has appeared on the internet, Pirotti said.

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ENISA asks for new legislation to protect people from the risks of sites such as Facebook and MySpace...

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:clap::clap::clap:

I'm ALL for it, yes!

I know there is a very obvious need to educate people on how social networking actually works and how it can be used and abused but I'm not so sure that legislation can ever be as effective as we would like to be in controlling internet predators the their ilk. I'd hope the EU won't put all their eggs in one basket and will still look at other ways to make the internet a safer place for netitizens to socialize and do business.

Oh please! Making laws to protect people from being stupid? If you put naked pictures of yourself on Myspace then it gets around, YOUR FAULT, FOOL.
Anything you put on the web can get spread around, that is just how it is. You should never put anything on the web that you don't want people to know about and parents should monitor their kids while online.

No more laws.

Not sure that was the thrust of the article Pixies but yeah at times common sense is something that seems in short supply on the net.

If I understood the article correctly they're looking at legislation to protect people from being exploited and bullied. I imagine hoping to avoid Lori Drew scenarios and that kind of thing.

blaize said:

Not sure that was the thrust of the article Pixies but yeah at times common sense is something that seems in short supply on the net.

If I understood the article correctly they're looking at legislation to protect people from being exploited and bullied. I imagine hoping to avoid Lori Drew scenarios and that kind of thing.

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Oh I hate Lori drew.
Megan had no chance with that cow trying to destroy her life.

I just wonder how effective any law can be against people like Lori Drew though. I think the penalties imposed would have to be really stiff and not just a slap on the wrist before the Lori Drew's of the world would pay attention.

pixies said:

Oh I hate Lori drew.
Megan had no chance with that cow trying to destroy her life.

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I'm all for education, not legislation. If parents monitored more of what their children were involved in, children wouldn't be as easy a target. It's up to the adults to be responsible, not the law.

Absolutely Yeah,me, I'd take education over legislation any day but for cases like Meaghan's education would not work. Lori Drew used every artifice to cover her intent and was motivated by a reckless need for petty revenge against a teenager.

Situations like that one and others where someone accesses other people's personal information and then posts it on the net or uses it for illegal purposes need to be dealt with by legislation that at least gives the victim some recourse.

Yeah said:

I'm all for education, not legislation. If parents monitored more of what their children were involved in, children wouldn't be as easy a target. It's up to the adults to be responsible, not the law.

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blaize said:

Absolutely Yeah,me, I'd take education over legislation any day but for cases like Meaghan's education would not work. Lori Drew used every artifice to cover her intent and was motivated by a reckless need for petty revenge against a teenager.

Situations like that one and others where someone accesses other people's personal information and then posts it on the net or uses it for illegal purposes need to be dealt with by legislation that at least gives the victim some recourse.

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I think she should be prosecuted, by all means. What I mean is, you cannot police the internet. Prosecute those that intend harm, but do not make laws regarding internet use and content, with the exception of child *advertiser censored* and abuse.