RE websites

January 26, 2007

Hi everyone, this question is for anyone who has created a website for

there child, and I can't remember but I think someone was having

trouble with security with there website....anyhow... I was visiting a

friends house and they said to me that I really should be careful and

that maybe having a website for Alissa isnt soo safe. Help me out

here... what kind of things should I be worried about cause I can't

even imagine something bad happening from having this website. Up until

now I was pretty positive about the whole thing but mayby it could be

more dangerous then good? Whats everyones thoughts on this???cause now

Im worried about it.

January 26, 2007

We've had a family web site since before Kennedy was born, since about 1996

and we've never had a problem. What specifics did your friend say weren't

safe? I could see if you listed her school name, your street address, etc,

but other than that, I'm not sure. There are predators for sure, I'm not

discounting that; however, at the other end of the spectrum are the folks

who think the Internet is all evil and everything is bad on it. These are

the people who would think it was crazy for me to have gone and met you

while I was in Toronto.

I'm not saying they're aren't nuts out there, but I am sayind we've never

had a problem.

>

> Hi everyone, this question is for anyone who has created a website for

> there child, and I can't remember but I think someone was having

> trouble with security with there website....anyhow... I was visiting a

> friends house and they said to me that I really should be careful and

> that maybe having a website for Alissa isnt soo safe. Help me out

> here... what kind of things should I be worried about cause I can't

> even imagine something bad happening from having this website. Up until

> now I was pretty positive about the whole thing but mayby it could be

> more dangerous then good? Whats everyones thoughts on this???cause now

> Im worried about it.

>

--

" It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in

delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. " --Carl Sagan

January 26, 2007

,

This is a question that keeps coming to my mind all the time, as I post

updates on my son's web page. We are always walking a fine line between sharing

our experiences about our children with others, and posting information that

some stranger could use in a negative way.

Depending on how your web page is set up, there may be some security features

built in. Many sites allow you to set up a user-name and password to gain

access. Babysites (where Evan's site is) also records the IP address of any

user who enters the site with the pass-word protection activated, and you can

block certain IP addresses from accessing the site. Pages through some webpage

" hosts " won't come up on google or yahoo search engines--I have a friend with a

web page devoted to photography who has a page like this (and the name of the

host escapes me right now). Unforturnately, Babysites is not one of these--I

googled " Evan Storrs " and his web site came up at the top of the list.

I think your friends are right to be cautious, and I wouldn't post ANYTHING on

your daughter's site that you aren't comforatble with any old person running

across, unless there is password protection on the site. Most of this is common

sense, but don't post your address, phone number (through a reverse directory,

you can get an address), SSN, etc... I wouldn't post the name of my child's

school or day care. And if your child is old enough, make sure she understands

basic rules about staying away from strangers--even if they know her name or

recognize her.

It's unfortunate that we live in a world where you have to worry about these

kinds of things...

(mom to Evan, 18 months)

Vacca wrote: