The BCC reports that Facebook has begun to roll out changes to the site in its efforts to appease critics of its privacy practices.

The change means that games and applications installed on a person’s profile must specify what personal information they will access and use. The moves were welcomed by privacy advocates.

“It is encouraging to see Facebook act on its stated commitment to providing users with simple but real control over their information,” said the US Center for Democracy and Technology. “The changes Facebook announced today represent an important and positive step for the company.”

The changes will apply to all third-party applications and games that a user installs on their profile.

“With this new authorisation process, when you log into an application with your Facebook account, the application will only be able to access the public parts of your profile by default,” said the firm’s Bret Taylor in a blog post. “To access the private sections of your profile, the application has to explicitly ask for your permission.”

A user will be presented with the permissions box every time they install a new application or first log in to an external website with their Facebook account.

The social network currently offers more than 550,000 applications, including games such as the popular Farmville. The site says that more than 70% of its 500 million users use an application every month.

Last month it was forced to simplify its privacy settings after storms of protest from users and privacy groups. The new system brings all of the site’s settings into one page, with suggested default settings.

When they were introduced, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg admitted the older settings had become too unwieldy and difficult for users. “The number one thing we’ve heard to that the settings have gotten complex and hard for people to use,” he said at the time.

Access the original article online at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/10472844.stm

The Telegraph reported on claims made by the British Association for Adoption & Fostering that the internet is making it easy for young people to trace their natural parents and other relatives, by searching for their names or photos. Meanwhile birth parents are able to find babies they gave up for adoption years earlier.

It bypasses the safeguards that are usually put in place, and can distress or upset those who are tracked down, the charity warns. If children were taken away from violent or abusive parents, they could be placed in “real danger” by their presence online, it is feared.

Meanwhile mothers who kept their pregnancy secret could be put at risk if the children they put up for adoption get in touch with relatives.

David Holmes, Chief Executive of BAAF said: “Social media is here to stay – we can not put the genie back in the bottle. We need to learn how to deal with it in relation to contact issues with birth families. “We strongly urge adoptive parents to familiarize themselves with social media, so they are able to talk to their children with confidence about all the issues. “The use of social media needs to be incorporated more generally into understanding the importance of a child’s curiosity about their origins, and how this changes over time. Adoption agencies have developed great expertise about this, and social networking needs to be incorporated into that expertise. Adopters and adoption agencies need to become tech-savvy so they can talk with confidence while recognizing the natural curiosity and the need for information.”

BAAF has now published a guide called Facing up to Facebook to help adoptive parents, which suggests that they ensure that their children use the popular website safely by putting privacy settings in place and avoiding using profile photos or posting information about where they live.

The charity is also holding a conference for social workers in London so they can educate families in the risks of internet use. Under British law, adopted children must wait until they are 18 before they can apply for their original birth certificates although they can sometimes maintain contact with their birth family, directly or through intermediaries.

Since 2005, birth relatives including parents have had the legal right to ask an adoption agency to let their adopted children that they want to get in touch.

Access the original article online at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/7841599/Facebook-poses-risk-to-adopted-children-and-families-charity-warns.html

Yesterday, we reported on AOL’s plans to sell Bebo. The company’s financial loss from selling the increasingly unpopular teen social network has sparked great debate amongst the press. James Moore of The Independent has put forwards some interesting comment about how Facebook should take heed from Bebo’s tale…

“What has happened at Bebo should still worry Facebook. To make its founders fabulously rich in cash terms (as well as in paper), the big dog in the world of social networking appears to be pursuing the route of an initial public offering. So there shouldn’t be much chance of a old, slow moving, dinosaur of a new owner mucking up what has made it good as has happened to so many of its rivals (Friends Reunited, even MySpace).

Facebook, however, could just as easily go down the Bebo route on its own. The site might look like it has traction as one of the dominant forces on the web. It has even surpassed Google in the number of hits (depending on how you chose to categorise such things). Momentum, liquidity and the number one position matter a lot on the web.

But they can still be lost in the blink of an eye, especially if your service is provided for free and you consumers decide that they don’t like you anymore. Recently, Facebook has shown that it is anything but immune from own-goals. The holy grail of social networking is to monetise the vast amount of data you hold on your customers. Trouble is, that creates any number of privacy implications and Facebook has not always shown the most sure-footed handling of this very important issue.

It is a major power for now, but if it loses sufficient goodwill there is nothing to stop it from following Bebo down the road to nowhere. As unthinkable as it appears now, Criterion Capital Partners s – or something like it – could easily be picking over another corpse if Facebook fails to learn the right lessons from Bebo’s blow up.”

Access the full article online at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/james-moore-bebos-blowup-offers-lessons-that-facebook-must-pay-heed-to-2003533.html

The BBC reports that privacy could be enhanced if data was allowed to fade, suggests research.

Dutch researcher Dr Harold van Heerde is looking into ways to gradually “degrade” the information that sites gather about visitors. Slowly swapping details for more general information can help guard against accidental disclosure, he said.

“There are so many weak points in security that you can never be sure that your data is safe,” said Dr van Heerde.

The research project carried out by Dr van Heerde from the Centre for Telematics and Information Technology (CTIT) at the University of Twente looked into ways to change the way databases manage information about users and customers.

The ability of those databases to gather information tempts companies and organisations to hoard information just in case it proves valuable, Dr van Heerde told BBC News.

The dangers of having data about us stored more or less permanently in many different places around the web have been proved many times when that information is leaked by accident or design, said Dr van Heerde.

“People make mistakes, people can be bribed,” he said. “You cannot protect this data, you cannot be sure it’s not been disclosed, privacy policies are simply too weak.”

Instead of simply refusing to use services that gather data, Dr van Heerde believes it would be better for people to surrender data knowing that there was a policy that determined how it degraded over time.

At initial use to secure a transaction or get useful information from a search all relevant details might be stored. Subsequently details would slowly be swapped for more general information. In the case of a location-specific search information about a user’s exact GPS co-ordinates could be swapped for a street name, then a neighbourhood and then just a city.

“You can slowly replace details with a more general value,” he said.

As well as limiting the impact of any disclosure, such a policy might also force companies to be more explicit about what data they gather and what they will use it for.

“In most cases there’s no good reason for them storing data for so long,” he said.

Access the original article online at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/10324209.stm

The BBC reports that China has defended its right to censor the internet in a document laying out the government’s attitude towards the web. It says the country has the right to govern the internet according to its own rules inside its borders.

The white paper also reveals just how fast the internet has developed in China in the 16 years since it was first connected. By the end of last year the country had 384m internet users.

The white paper, released on Tuesday, called the internet “a crystallisation of human wisdom”. But in the document the government lays out some of the reasons why its citizens cannot get access to all of that wisdom. It says it wants to curb the harmful effects of illegal information on state security, public interests and children.

“Laws and regulations clearly prohibit the spread of information that contains content subverting state power, undermining national unity [or] infringing upon national honour and interests,” it says.

Websites, blogs and information deemed sensitive by the Chinese government is routinely blocked using a range of technological tools, dubbed the Great Firewall of China. The country’s state secrets law has just been amended in a way that makes internet and telecommunications firms now responsible for helping the government police the web.

Despite that, China still maintains that its people have unfettered access to the internet. “Chinese citizens fully enjoy freedom of speech on the internet,” says the white paper.

The document also reveals just how fast the internet is developing in China. The government hopes that nearly half the population will have access to the internet within five years. That figure is nearly 30% at the moment.

Access the original article online at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8727647.stm

Leading chemists are selling diet pills to children and those suffering from eating disorders, an investigation has found. The £1-a-day slimming pill Alli should only be available over the counter without a prescription to over-18s with a high body mass index.

But the BBC’s Watchdog programme found Boots sold the drug to a schoolgirl online while both Boots and Lloyds Pharmacy sold Alli to a recovering anorexic over the web.

When the drug was sold in branches of the chemists, patients’ height, weight and BMI were checked – and if underweight they were refused the tablets. But online the vetting procedures were much more lax. Applicants were able to lie about their BMI and their purchase was then approved.

Alli prevents the body from absorbing fat in food and in trials helped slimmers lose anything from 10lb to five stone over six months. When confronted with the investigation’s results, Lloyds Pharmacy said it would tighten regulations. But Boots said it ‘could not let the actions of a few’ stop it helping millions of people lose weight and it would not change its policy.

Watchdog launched its investigation after leading eating disorder charity Beat warned Alli was easily available online. It found that Boots sold Alli to a 16-year-old girl who gave her real age but that the Lloyds website turned her away.

Professor Steve Field, of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said that Alli interfered with vitamin absorption and so can be dangerous for children.

Boots said: ‘We have taken the isolated incident very seriously. We have reminded our e-pharmacy teams of the checks that they should follow for the sale of pharmacy medicines to ensure we remain vigilant.’ Lloyds Pharmacy said it had introduced ‘additional cross-checks’ to its online service.

If you are concerned about your child buying medicines online, you can prevent them from visiting sites that reference drugs by using Brightfilter Parental Control software. Even with a 15 or 18 profile activated, the drugs category can then also be blocked. Individual URLS can also be blacklisted, so children are unable to visit pharmacy and other drug selling websites.

Access the original article online at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1278280/Teenagers-sold-diet-pills-online-chemists-investigation-finds.html#ixzz0ntTzI4kR

The Telegraph reports that Capio Nightingale Hospital, in central London, has launched the first addiction service which allows young people to go “cold turkey” from their technology compulsion.

The service, which will be offered for children as young as 12, comes amid growing concerns about children’s behaviour with technology which puts their health at risk and has led to police being called to sort out family disputes.

Children will be forced to go “cold turkey” from their technology use as well as being encouraged to cut out any problem use, such as computer games, and restrict the time spent using their phone or computer.

They would also be taught face-to face social skills at a residential unit. It also encourages them to think about their relationship with their phone, computer games or social networking websites like Facebook and teaches them skills to help them to switch off.

The treatment package may also include a look at body image and physical health if the addiction has affected the child’s confidence, activity levels or diet.

The treatment aims to increase off-screen social activities and improve the person’s confidence in face-to-face situations, the lack of which may have made them more susceptible to technology addiction.

Strategies to deal with online problems, like cyber bullying, may also be part of intensive in-patient care, group or individual therapy.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Richard Graham, who is leading the new addiction treatment, said services need to ”adapt quickly” to help young people affected by technology addiction – who he dubbed ‘’screenagers” – rather than sticking with the same treatment models used for substance abuse.

He said a growing number of parents had told him about when their children flew ”into a rage” when they were told to turn off their computer. Police had even been called to sort out some rows, he added.

Dr Graham said technology addicts, whom were like gambling addicts, were hyper-stimulated so they were ”always on the alert” and could suffer withdrawal symptoms like agitation.

”I’ve been contacted by parents who see their children going into a rage when they’re told to turn off their computer. Some end up having to call the police,” he said. Dr Graham said children played some computer games for the social contact, adding: ”It gives them a sense of connection so they end up playing all the time.”

”What we need are official guidelines now on what counts as healthy or unhealthy use of technology,” he told the London Evening Standard.

”Mental health services need to adapt quickly to the changing worlds that young people inhabit, and understand just how seriously their lives can be impaired by unregulated time online, on-screen or in-game. We have found that many of the existing services fail to recognise the complexity of these situations, borrowing from older models of addiction and substance misuse to very limited effect.

”This is why Capio Nightingale Hospital has launched the first Young Person Technology Addiction Service, which we hope will address the underlying causes of this addiction to transform screenagers back into teenagers.”

Other clinics, including The Priory, offer treatment for internet addiction but have no dedicated service for young people. A spokeswoman said the service will be offered for children as young as 12 but those aged 15 to 17 are expected to be the main target group.

She said the service did not aim to make children give up technology use completely, instead they are encouraged to cut out any problem use – like computer games – and restrict the time spent using their phone or computer.

Access the original article online at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/children_shealth/7467200/Rehab-clinic-for-children-internet-and-technology-addicts-founded.html

A survey of 1000 young people conducted on behalf of Get Connected, the national helpline for people under 25, has revealed that nine out of 10 young people have turned to the internet for help with a personal problem.

However, the reports has revealed that more than half of the young people who search the internet with a problem actually end up more worried than before, with only one fifth of them double checking any information they find online with another source.

Andrew McKnight, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Get Connected, said: “These results show that there is a need for young people to be able to verify the information that they find online, and in many cases that the vast amount of information available on the internet seems to exacerbate their personal worries further.

“As a society we have become increasingly reliant on the internet as a first point of reference for a lot of information, and it is crucial that we make Britain’s young people aware of exactly where they can turn to for dependable information and support. Get Connected is the safe gateway to these services.”

The main topics that young people contact Get Connected about were relationship issues, housing problems, and sexual issues.

The Telegraph reports on researchers who are claiming that students are losing the ability to study properly because constant internet use is “rewiring” their brains.

Experts believe the internet encourages users to dart from page to page, rather than concentrating on one source such as a book. Described as “associative” thinking, researchers believe it is reducing youngsters’ capacity to read and write at length because their minds are being remoulded to function differently.

A survey designed to examine the internet’s impact on the brain examined how 100 12 to 18-year-olds responded to a series of questions requiring some form of research. They discovered that most of the respondents gave their answers after looking at just half the number of web pages older people examined.

They also found that younger people took far less time to research their answers and were therefore less thorough.

Professor David Nicholas of the University College London, who conducted the research, said it supported the growing theory that the web’s hyperlinked network of information was helping to rewire youngsters’ minds. He revealed that 40% of those taking part in the study viewed no more than three pages from the thousands available online, when researching a topic.

In contrast, people who grew up before the age of the internet repeatedly returned to the same source instead of flitting between sites.

Professor Nicholas said: “The really big surprise was that people seemed to be skipping over the virtual landscape. They were hopping from sites, looking at one or two pages, going to another site, looking at one or two pages and then going on. Nobody seemed to be staying anywhere for very long.”

Details of the study will be revealed in the final episode of BBC2’s The Virtual Revolution which will be screened on February 20. Documentary presenter and social psychologist Dr Aleks Krotoski said: ”It seems pretty clear that, for good or ill, the younger generation is being remoulded by the web.

”Facebook’s feedback loops are revolutionising how they relate. There is empirical evidence now that information overload and associative thinking may be reshaping how they think. For many, this seems to be a bleak prospect – young people bouncing and flitting between a thoughtless, throwaway virtual world.”

Access the original article online at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/7206774/Internet-rewiring-youngsters-brains.html