Please be polite folks.

I’d be very interested to know your views - supportive or not. Internet regulation is not in my policy area but I promise you I will forward your views to Andy Burnham and Lord Carter

Source: Tom Watson MP Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office.

The culture secretary, Andy Burnham, says in an interview today that the government is considering the need for “child safe” websites – registered with cinema-style age warnings – to curb access to offensive or damaging online material.

He plans to approach US president-elect Barack Obama’s incoming administration with proposals for tight international rules on English language websites, which may include forcing internet service providers, such as BT, Tiscali, Sky and AOL, to provide packages restricting access to websites without an age rating.

Source: The Guardian.

The private details of thousands of children were found on a memory stick dropped by a council worker. … it included the names, dates of birth, ethnicity and contact details for about 5,000 nursery-age children living in the Leeds area. The stick, which was found in a second-hand car, also contained confidential information about child protection and whether or not the children’s parents claimed state benefits.

Source: BBC

Two British men should not have had their DNA and fingerprints retained by police, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled. The men’s information was held by South Yorkshire Police, although neither was convicted of any offence. The judgement could have major implications on how DNA records are stored in the UK’s national database.

Source: BBC News
More details: European Court of Human Rights press release

Personal information regarding thousands of children is in criminal hands after a laptop theft. Surrey County Council (SCC) notified the 7,851 children, parents and carers, whose details were stolen, that there had been a “potential security breach” in a letter over the weekend. Personal, unencrypted data was stored on the laptop swiped from a car belonging to one of the county council’s contractors, Trapeze Group UK Ltd, on November 12.

Source: This is Surrey Today

Surfing the internet, playing games and hanging out on social networks are important for teen development, a large study of online use has revealed. The report counters the stereotypical view held by many parents and teachers that such activity is a waste of time. More than 800 teenagers and parents took part in the three-year US project.

Source: BBC