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Site Seeing
On The Internet
The Savvy Traveler
Millions of people are traveling the Internet (a.k.a. Cyberspace). And as going online gets easier and more affordable, even more will venture into Cyberspace.
We hope you’ll share it with your family and especially with children, so that they will be savvy travelers when they visit Cyberspace, too.
You might visit a famous museum, catch the latest news, enter a chat room to discuss a topic that interests you, learn about parenting, search for a travel bargain, purchase a book or CD, start a part-time business, or e-mail a letter to your far-flung family in a single step.
Books, articles, friends, and people you work with can steer you to many interesting web sites.
Information — The Currency of Cyberspace
Information is gathered on the Internet both directly and indirectly. When you enter a chat room discussion, leave a message on a bulletin board, register with a commercial site, enter a contest, or order a product, you directly and knowingly send information into Cyberspace. Often, a web site may require information from you as the “toll” you pay to enter.
Data also can be gathered indirectly, without your knowledge. For example, your travels around a web site can be tracked by a file called a “cookie” left on your computer’s hard drive on your first visit to that site. When you revisit the site, it will open the cookie file and access the stored information so it will know how to greet you. If you linger over a product or a subject that interests you, it will be noted. As web sites gather information directly and indirectly, they can collect a complete data picture of you and your family.
This kind of information is valuable to marketers because it helps them target their sales efforts.
Maintaining Privacy When You Travel
As anywhere, Cyberspace has its share of “snoopers” and con men. Guard your password. It’s the key to your account. People who work for your service provider should never request your password. When shopping online, be very careful about revealing your Social Security or credit card number and shipping address. Many web sites scramble or encrypt information like that to ensure the safety of your personal data. Look at the privacy policy for information about how the web sites you visit scramble or encrypt your personal data. Concerns about loss of privacy are not new. But the computer’s ability to gather and sort vast amounts of data — and the Internet’s ability to distribute it globally — magnify those concerns.
To a large extent, privacy is up to you when you enter a web site. Look for a privacy statement.
Travel Insurance For Cyberspace
Experienced cybertravelers carry a little “travel insurance” when they enter Cyberspace. Be careful about giving out your credit card number. The same applies to your Social Security number, phone number and home address.
Check your online service for ways to reduce unsolicited commercial e-mail. Learn to recognize junk e-mail, and delete it. Never download an e-mail attachment from an unknown source. You can be defrauded online. If an offer is too hard to believe, don’t believe it.
Credit rights and other consumer protection laws apply to Internet transactions. If you have a problem, tell a law enforcement agency.
Teach your children to check with you before giving out personal — or family — information and to look for privacy policies when they enter a web site that asks for information about them. Many kids’ sites now insist on a parent’s approval before they gather information from a child.
Traveling With Children
Taking the kids on a trip into Cyberspace can be a rewarding experience for you as well as your children. Before embarking on your trip, you should know that web sites collect a significant amount of personal information from children, such as the child’s name, postal and e-mail address, and favorite activities and products. This information can be collected by asking children to register with the site, join a kids’ club, enter a contest or complete a questionnaire online.
The personal information collected is used to create customer lists. Look at a web site’s privacy policy for an explanation of how the site handles your personal information.) Sometimes this information is posted on the web site in “guest books,” members’ profiles, chat rooms or on home pages hosted by a web site. Posting such information may enable others to contact your child, possibly without your knowledge. It’s unlikely that you’d let personal information about your child be posted on a neighborhood bulletin board; exercise the same caution with electronic bulletin boards.
Children learn to use computers quickly, but because they lack life experience, they can reveal information you might not wish to share. That’s one reason children should be supervised when they venture into Cyberspace. Explore the Internet with your children. There are plenty of kid-friendly sites; help your kids find them, and explain why it’s best to be careful not to give out their real name and address in chat rooms, to online pen pals and on bulletin boards.
Consider using filters that allow you to place certain sites and subjects off limits to your child. These “parent controls” are available through your online service or through special software you can buy. Filters aren’t foolproof, but they help. Some ISPs offer filters to control the amount of unsolicited e-mail you receive.
Have rules for going online. When your child has earned the right, issue a Cyberspace Passport and post it as a reminder of the achievement.
Teach your children the meaning of privacy and personal — or family — information. Show your child the difference between an advertisement and entertainment.
Cyberspeak —Learning the Language
BOOKMARK — an online function that lets you access your favorite web sites quickly.
BROWSER — special software that allows you to navigate several areas of theInternet and view a web site.
BULLETIN BOARD/NEWSGROUP — places to leave an electronic message or share news that anyone can read and respond to. Marketers or others can get your e-mail address from bulletin boards and newsgroups.
CHAT ROOM — a place for people to converse online by typing messages to each other. (Once you’re in a chat room, others can contact you by e-mail. Some online services monitor their chat rooms and encourage children to report offensive chatter. Some allow parents to deny access to chat rooms altogether.)
CHATTING — a way for a group of people to converse online in real-time by typing messages to each other.
COOKIE — when you visit a site, a notation may be fed to a file ” known as a “cookie” in your computer for future reference. If you revisit the site, the “cookie” file allows the web site to identify you as a “return” guest — and offer you products tailored to your interests or tastes. You can set your online preferences to limit or let you know about “cookies” that a web site places on your computer.
CYBERSPACE — another name for theInternet.
DOWNLOAD — the transfer of files or software from a remote computer to your computer.
E-MAIL — computer-to-computer messages between one or more individuals via the Internet.
FILTER — software you can buy that lets you block access to web sites and content that you may find unsuitable.
INTERNET — the universal network that allows computers to talk to other computers in words, text, graphics, and sound, anywhere in the world.
ISP (Internet Service Provider) — a service that allows you to connect to the Internet. When you sign up (it takes special software and a modem), you’ll be asked to enter a screen name, a secret password and your credit card number. Usually, online charges are billed to your credit card. Most providers allow you to review your monthly expenses online instead of sending you a separate itemized bill. If you note unexpected charges from your ISP, call for an explanation.
JUNK E-MAIL — unsolicited commercial e-mail; also known as “spam.” Usually junk e-mail doesn’t contain the recipient’s address on the “To” line.
KEYWORD — a word you enter into a search engine to begin the search for specific information or web sites.
LINKS — highlighted words on a web site that allow you to connect to other parts of the same web site or to other web sites.
LISTSERV — an online mailing list that allows individuals or organizations to send e”mail to groups of people at one time.
MODEM — an internal or external device that connects your computer to a phone line and, if you wish, to a company that can link you to the Internet.
ONLINE SERVICE — an ISP with added information, entertainment and shopping features.
PASSWORD — a personal code that you use to access your account with your ISP.
PRIVACY POLICY — a statement on a web site describing what information about you is collected by the site, and how it is used. Ideally, the policy is posted prominently and offers you options about the use of your personal information. These options are called opt-in and opt-out. An opt-in choice means the web site won’t use your information unless you specifically say it’s okay. An opt-out choice means the web site can use the information unless you specifically direct it not to.
SCREEN NAME — the name you call yourself when you communicate online. You may want to abbreviate your name or make up a name. Your ISP may allow you to use several screen names.
SEARCH ENGINE — a function that lets you search for information and web sites. You can find search engines or a search function on many web sites.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator) — the address that lets you locate a particular site. For example, www.ftc.gov is the URL for the Federal Trade Commission. For example, www.naag.org is the URL for the National Association of Attorneys General.
VIRUS — a file maliciously planted in your computer that can damage files and disrupt your system.
WEB SITE — An Internet destination where you can look at and retrieve data. All the web sites in the world, linked together, make up the World Wide Web or the “Web.”
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