Internet Access Regular Filtered or Menthol Indiana Library

Internet Access: Regular, Filtered, or Menthol? Indiana Library Federation Annual Meeting March 14, 2000 Howard Rosenbaum hrosenba@indiana. edu http: //www. slis. indiana. edu/hrosenba/www/Pres/filt 00/index. html

Filtering the net I. Introduction • The problem: access to networked information II. Possible solutions • Legislative • Social III. Technical: filters • What are they? • How do they work? • How well do they work? IV. Conclusions 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net I. The problem Controlling access to networked information Schools and libraries are in the business of providing access to information Internet access raises difficult issues Should there be any restrictions on user access? Do librarians or teachers have any responsibility to monitor children’s use of this resource? Should access to networked information be treated as a collection development task? 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Can and should the Internet be censored by filtering is a question bedeviling thousands of public librarians who have rushed to embrace this seemingly limitless and economical information source only to find that it includes a distinctly dark and dirty side. Bastian, J. B. (1998). Filtering the Internet in American Public Libraries: Sliding Down the Slippery Slope. First Monday 2(10) http: //www. firstmonday. dk/issues/issue 2_10/bastian/ 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net How bad can it be? 11/98: ~60, 000 “adult” sites in the US http: //www-cse. stanford. edu/classes/cs 201/projects/ onlinepornography/index. html NFOInteractive: 42% of online kids (N=346 avg = 13) have subscribed to a website or other service 85% of parents have rules against this, and 80% of kids say they know these rules ~ 50% had met a new friend online, evenly split among boys and girls 42% of parents knew that their children had done this http: //www. nfoi. com/nfointeractive/nfoipr 60799. asp Greenfields Online surveyed 1, 350 households and 20% use filtering software 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Kids on the net http: //www. emarketer. com/estats/061499_kids. html 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net A scenario At a library or school Board meeting, a coalition of parents makes a strong case that the library or school should not be in the pornography business Free and open access to the net with children allowed to use the computers means that librarians and teachers are no better than the smut dealers They demand that filtering software be installed on all net-accessible computers that can be used by children The Board asks you to respond - what do you say? 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Or: A parent asks to see your collection development policy They notice what the library or school will and will not buy They sit at the nearest computer terminal and access versions of the unacceptable material on the net They call you over and ask you to explain why it is that they (or their child) can access this information with the library or school’s computer, but can’t find it on the shelves How do you respond? 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Filtering…NO! WHEREAS, On June 26, 1997, the US Supreme Court issued a sweeping re-affirmation of core First Amendment principles and held that communications over the Internet deserve the highest level of Constitutional protection. . . RESOLVED, That the American Library Association affirms that the use of filtering software by libraries to block access to constitutionally protected speech violates the Library Bill of Rights ALA's Resolution on the Use of Filtering Software in Libraries [Adopted July, 2, 1997] 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Filtering…YES! Filtering Facts promotes the use of filtering in libraries to protect children from the harms of pornography All public libraries should filter children’s access Filtering for adults should be decided on a community-bycommunity basis Goals of Filtering Facts: Educate the public and media about net software filters Encourage libraries to adopt filters Persuade the ALA to rescind its “Resolution on the use of filtering software in libraries, ” and adopt a more tolerant view of filtering http: //www. filteringfacts. org/faq. htm 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net I. Introduction • The problem: access to networked information II. Possible solutions • Legislative • Social III. Technical: filters • What are they? • How do they work? • How well do they work? IV. Conclusions 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net II. Possible solutions Legislative Indiana House Bill #2069 Current Status: first reading; referred to Committee on Education If you (the school or public library) want your share of the money and provide a “public access computer” that minors can use, you must: Use software that limits the ability minors to access materials determined to be inappropriate for them Purchase net connectivity from an ISP that uses filtering to limit access to materials determined to be inappropriate for minors 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net At least once a year, the governing body of the school or library shall hold a public meeting to determine the range of material inappropriate for minors Filters can then be set to prevent minors from gaining access to these materials This determination will reflect community standards regarding materials inappropriate for minors as evidenced during the meeting A “public access computer” is a computer that is Located in a public school or public library Frequently or regularly used directly by a minor; and Connected to any computer communication system 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Child Online Protection Act of 1998 (HR 3783) Schools and libraries must implement filtering or blocking technology for computers with net access as a condition of universal service discounts The school board, or other authority must certify that it Has selected a technology for its computers with net access to filter or block access to: Material that is obscene; and Child pornography; and Is enforcing a policy to ensure the operation of the technology during use of such computers by minors Signed into law 10/22/98 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Certification for libraries: A library with more than 1 computer with net access used by the public (including minors) shall certify that it has installed and uses filtering or blocking to restrict material deemed to be harmful to minors on one or more of its computers with Internet access A library with 1 public net access computer used by the public (including minors) can receive universal service assistance even if it does not use a filtering or blocking software It must certify to that it uses a reasonably effective alternative to keep minors from accessing material on the net deemed to be harmful 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net S. 1619: Safe Schools Internet Act of 1998 (105 th reported to senate) Filtering software must be installed on computers in schools and libraries receiving federal subsidies Funds will be withheld until certification is provided that they have selected a system to filter or block matter deemed to be inappropriate for minors Libraries have to install software “on one or more of its computers with Internet access” The determination of what is inappropriate for minors shall be made by the school, school board, library and No agency of the Government may establish criteria or review the determination 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net HR 369, Children's Privacy Protection and Parental Empowerment Act of 1999 (106 th: in subcommittee) This is a general children’s privacy protection bill, with teeth It criminalizes the sale by list brokers of information about children under 16 without written consent of the parent Parents have the right to learn what information a broker has disclosed and to whom It gives parents the right to stop further disclosure It gives parents a private right of action, with minimum damages of $5, 000 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net H. R. 3560 Online Privacy Protection Act of 2000 (106 th: in subcommittee) It requires the Federal Trade Commission to prescribe regulations protecting the privacy of personal information collected from and about individuals not covered by the COPPA (1998) It applies to people age 13 and above It provides greater individual control over the collection and use of that information, and for other purposes 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net S. 1545: Neighborhood Children’s Internet Protection Act (106 th: in committee) No universal service for schools or libraries that fail to filtering or adopt internet use policies The internet use policy must address minors’: Access to inappropriate matter on the net/web; Safety and security when using email, chat rooms, and other direct electronic communications; Unauthorized access, (hacking) and other unlawful activities; Unauthorized disclosure, use, and dissemination of their personal identification information; and It also must report use of technological means to limit, monitor, or otherwise control or guide minors’ net access 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net H. R. 543, 896 Children’s Internet Protection Act (106 th: in subcommittee) A bill to require the installation and use by schools and libraries of a technology for filtering or blocking material on the Internet on computers with Internet access to be eligible to receive or retain universal service assistance; to the Committee on Commerce H. R. 368 Safe Schools Internet Act of 1999 (106 th: in subcommittee) A bill to require the installation of a system for filtering or blocking matter on the Internet on computers in schools and libraries with Internet access, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Commerce 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Social responses to filtering Do nothing Get sued to install filters (Kathleen R. v. Livermore) Do something Get sued to because filters have been installed (Loudoun County) Develop an internet AUP and require parental consent Ask patrons to regulate their own activities Install filtering on all net computers Install limited filtering Move computers and/or use privacy screens Refuse to install filtering 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net What librarians want: Freedom of choice Web management software should allow people to choose for themselves and with their children what they wish to view Guided search It should guide users to quality sites Librarians should know the criteria used for site selection and who is doing the selection Data quality If a library uses filters, the software should allow librarians to review blocked sites It should provide a mechanism to notify the company when sites are blocked inappropriately 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Privacy The software should clear the screen after each use Users should not be able to not know what previous users have viewed (health information is a particular concern) Ease of use The software should be multi-functional, easy to administer and integrate well with existing products March 12, 1999 meeting of librarians and filtering companies at ALA in Chicago 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Another social solution comes from industry There are several self-regulation initiatives Web site owners will require verification or will label their own sites Internet Content Summit http: //www. stiftung. bertelsmann. de/internetcontent/english/ frameset_home. htm Standards These solutions are largely voluntary and involve a considerable degree of sophistication on the part of the user to work PICS (Platform for Internet Content Selection) P 3 P (Platform for Privacy Preferences) 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net The Internet Content Rating Association was formed in April 1999 as an independent, non-profit organization Its mission is to develop, implement and manage an internationally acceptable voluntary self-rating system which provides users with the choice to limit access to content they consider harmful, especially to children The Recreational Software Advisory Council (RSAC) has formally folded into ICRA which now manages and operates the RSACi rating system http: //www. icra. org 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net The RSAC is a non-profit based in Washington, D. C It empowers the public (parents) to make informed decisions about electronic media using an open, objective, content advisory system The RSACi system provides consumers with information about levels of sex, nudity, violence, offensive language (vulgar or hate-motivated) in games and Web sites RSACi is used in browsers and Cyber Patrol Compu. Serve (US and Europe) is committed to rating its content with the RSACi system http: //www. rsac. org/homepage. asp 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net How PICS works Content Parent selects rating method Service A label Service B label Publisher’s label Child using the net Label reading software http: //www. w 3. org/pub/WWW/PICS/iacwcv 2. htm 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net P 3 P: web sites express their privacy practices and users exercise preferences based on those practices Users are informed of site practices when they access the site Access decisions are largely automated Users can tailor relationships with specific sites Sites with practices within the user’s range of preferences are accessed seamlessly If the site is outside the range, users are notified of its practices They can agree to those terms or other terms and browse or leave 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net How P 3 P works The site sets its P 3 P preferences Click on a link Request a page Check them against your P 3 P data Site sends P 3 P data If not OK, negotiate You set P 3 P preferences If OK, accept page, if not, leave 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net I. Introduction • The problem: access to networked information II. Possible solutions • Legislative • Social III. Technical: filters • What are they? • How do they work? • How well do they work? IV. Conclusions 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Filters: “are mechanical tools wrapped around subjective judgment. ” Schneider, K. (1998). Internet Filter Assessment Project http: //www. bluehighways. com/tifap/ 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Technical Hardware These solutions are built into the machine and are designed to work without user intervention Clipper chip Vchip Machine ID# Software Filtering and blocking 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Why are you filtering? What types of materials will be blocked? Where will the software be located? Who will make the decisions and control the software? When will the filters be turned on? 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Filtering software works by controlling access to the net It allows access to a restricted subset of the net They can be placed on clients, on the LAN, or on a proxy server LAN The net 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net On a web page, you can index the IP address, the URL, metatags, the body, the graphics, and the links Simple filters block URLs Complex filters check all on-line activities Advanced filters block access to web sites, chat rooms, e-mail, file downloading, general browsing, newsgroups This is based on addresses, protocols, file types, and text They can log time spent browsing and keep records of online activity and some offline computing 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Submit URL The filtering process For this user? At this time? This type of site? This type of file? Filter reviews request Is this site allowed? Yes See page No See denial page 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Companies compete on the size and quality of their databases which are compiled in a variety of ways Inhouse, outsourced, or solicitation from clients They compete on the ability of their products to withstand assault and hacking Most contain an encrypted database of “objectionable” locations Only the company producing the software knows exactly what is blocked and what isn’t They decide what is “bad” and what is “acceptable” content 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Types of databases Blacklists: these files list all sites that are blocked A site is brought to the attention of the company, examined and compared to a list of criteria Offending sites are placed into one or more categories, (profanity, full nudity, drug use, violence…) These categories differ among filtering products Most commercial filter vendors do not publish their blacklists Most users never see the full list of pages that are blocked Some products now allow limited editing of the list 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Keyword blocking: software developers (or others) come up with a list of objectionable terms A page can’t load if it contains any word in the stop list (or it will load with the blocked) Current commercial products do not handle exceptions where otherwise acceptable pages are blocked because of a word that appears on the stop list Breast cancer, sexually transmitted diseases The problem is that keywords have no context Super. Bowl XXXIV will be blocked 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Whitelists: these are similar to blacklists except they contain the URLs of pages that can be seen The developers gather a list of “appropriate” sites All others are blocked A whitelist provides a very limited view of the net However, it is almost 100% effective in blocking all pornography and other offensive material Whitelists are typically not published Some products allow the customer to add or delete certain sites 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Examples: Cyberpatrol ($30. 00 + $30. 00/yr for updates) It provides parents, teachers, day care professionals anyone responsible for children’s access to the net with the tools they need to get a handle on an area which can be very dangerous for kids. Cyber. NOT block list - researched sites containing material parents may find questionable Criteria: http: //www. cyberpatrol. com/cybernot/criteria. htm This list is twice as comprehensive as competitive lists, blocking OVER 15, 000 Internet resources! Cyber. YES allowed sites list - 40, 000+ researched sites containing only appropriate material for children http: //www. cyberpatrol. com 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Nanny ($26 -200. 00 - 20 users) Does Net Nanny allow full discretion over what is blocked? Net Nanny’s screening lists are completely user defined and allow parents to screen and block any words, phrases, sites and content according to their particular values - not a developer's arbitrary selection or the Government’s! Does Net Nanny provide any site lists? We provide Net Nanny users with site lists, researched by our staff and other 3 rd party children’s advocacy groups but they are fully editable Net Nanny monitors all online activity including Web browsers, Newsgroups, FTP's, IRC and standard email http: //www. netnanny. com/ 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Surfwatch ($40 -50. 00) It provides your institution with a powerful and easy to implement solution to protect students from exposure to objectionable or harmful content on the net It blocks access to more than 100, 000 explicit sex, violence, drug, and gambling sites, including 200 chat channels, and “millions” of URLs The Educational Edition features “Secure Learning categories, ” and starts students off with access to only respected educational sites such as Yahooligans!, Children’s Television Workshop, and others http: //www. surfwatch. com/ 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Library Safe Internet System It is built for the library and the classroom environment It allows the librarian and teacher “Total Empowerment” in deciding which web sites should be blocked on which computer terminals, and at what time Is Library. Safe 100% tamper-proof? Yes: the software is located at the network-level and only authorized personnel have access to the filter Patrons cannot tamper with it http: //www. librarysafe. com 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net How can a library system implement its unique filtering policy using Library. Safe? It gives the library its own “Private Internet Filter” to give you the power to decide what, where, and when a site will be filtered. Your staff can design its own white- and blacklists It has a special password protected web page where you can add and delete those URLs you have decided are appropriate or inappropriate It is a server based system with a site database, rating codes, and stop words 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Filtering and blocking software Bess The Library Channel www. n 2 h 2. com Cyber Sitter www. vimpact. net Nanny www. solidoak. com www. netnanny. com Cyber Patrol Net Shepherd www. cyberpatrol. com www. shepherd. com Cyber Snoop Smart Filter www. pearlsw. com www. smartfilter. com Cyber. Library Surfwatch www. jdltech. com www. surfwatch. com Ed. View Web. Sense www. edview. com www. websense. com I-Gear X-Stop www. urlabs. com www. xstop. com http: //www. ala. org/symons/filtering/filterlist. html 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net How well do they work? Smartfilter was used in Utah public libraries and schools by the state educational network (UEN) It uses 27 categories, any or all of which can be activated UEN uses five: sex, gambling, criminal skills, hate speech, drugs It has no access to Smartfilter’s blacklist, does not make additions to it and makes very few removals The Secure Computing Corp, San Jose makes decisions about what Utah students, adults and library patrons can view over the net http: //censorware. org/reports/utah/methodology. shtml 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net A small percentage of sites are blocked: Time Period Total Accesses Total Banned 20 days 53, 103, 387 205, 737 20 days (no banners or images) 15, 434, 442 (. 62%) Criminal skills 95, 059 (. 56%) Sex Drugs Hate Gambling 193, 272 1, 588 791 4, 934 5, 772 86, 957 1, 298 526 3, 753 3, 649 But some interesting sites were among those banned! 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net All about oil exploration http: //www. pollution. com/ Computer game reviews http: //www. kickass. com/ Shakespeare’s Tragedies http: //wiretap. spies. com/ftp. items/Library/Classic/Shakespeare /Tragedies/ Mr. Science (things that go “boom”) http: //www 2. southwind. net/~mrscienc/boom. html Hate. Watch (anti-hate speech site) http: //www. hatewatch. org/frames. html Bloomington Brewing Company http: //bbc. bloomington. com/brewing. html The Starr report http: //www. abcnews. com/report/2 toc. htm 3. 14. 00

Filtering the net Some resources used in this talk: The Internet Filter Assessment Project http: //www. bluehighways. com/tifap/ IFAP: Internet Access Management Options http: //www. bluehighways. com/filters/options. html Filtering Facts http: //www. filteringfacts. org/ Censorware. org http: //www. censorware. org/reports/utah/ W 3 C PICS http: //www. w 3. org/pub/WWW/PICS/iacwcv 2. htm FCC: Parents, Kids & Communications http: //www. fcc. gov/parents_information/#browsing This presentation will be on the web at: http: //www. slis. indiana. edu/hrosenba/www/Pres/filt 00/index. html 3. 14. 00