At Yahoo! we have always taken privacy very seriously. Privacy is a core element in building our users’ trust, which is in turn core to us. We build our world-class products with privacy and trust in mind, and in order to succeed we strongly believe that the very first targets of education and awareness should be within the very inside of our company. This is why on February 1st the Yahoo! Miami office will host an invitation-only discussion on the latest global and regional developments in privacy. We will share perspective on how Yahoo! has maintained the hard earned role as a leader in building and maintaining user trust, how Yahoo! innovates with privacy in mind to give users transparency and choice in their online experiences, and what the landscape looks like for the online industry, as well as an overview of legislation affecting user privacy especially those affecting Latin America. There will be a Q&A session and the event will be videotaped – all in Spanish – for audiences unable to attend.

Laura Juanes
Director, international privacy for Yahoo!

Teens have embraced the many wonderful opportunities provided by the Internet, and other digital technologies, that allow them to connect with others and share information.  However, with opportunity comes responsibility. We need to educate the next generation about utilizing the Internet in a safe manner and using a contemplative approach to posting information, photos and videos online.

Our research shows that many teens do not realize that if they make the decision to share something digitally, it is in a public space forever. So, what if a teen was told that he or she had to wear their online posts or texts on their t-shirts for a whole day?  That’s the concept around our new Internet Safety Coalition’s message, “Beware What You Share.”  Yahoo! has joined the Ad Council and some of our nation’s leading corporate marketers, media and non-profit organizations to form an Internet Safety Coalition.  Our goal is to educate teens about safe online and digital practices.

This unprecedented effort unites more than 40 industry leaders in helping to keep teens safer online. Members include AT&T, Google, Interactive Advertising Bureau, Microsoft and the Wireless Foundation (for a complete list, visit www.internetsafetypartners.org). Yahoo! Inc. has stepped up and given their full support and enthusiasm to this important cause.

Our Coalition’s message offers teens a simple digital safety guideline to live by: “If you wouldn’t wear it, don’t share it. Beware what you share.” We have created new videos and Web banners, which show teens the consequences of sharing personal information online.

The new message and creative materials will be integrated into Coalition members’ communications channels, including websites, advertising, social media, grassroots programs and collateral materials.  For example, Yahoo! is planning to feature the videos on Yahoo! Safely and will run an on-network Web banner campaign designed to reach teens and parents with this important message.

This unique collaboration will help educate and empower teens to be smart about what they post and share online. We know that targeted and consistent communications programs have the power to change attitudes and behaviors regarding a multitude of social issues. I am confident that this effort will significantly broaden the reach and impact of our messages and ultimately help keep our children safer.

For more information about the coalition, visit www.internetsafetypartners.org.

-Peggy Conlon, President and CEO, The Advertising Council

Global Online Safety PSA

Today, more and more digital citizens are connecting to each other across various devices and Web services, making online safety paramount. Over the last year, Yahoo! has collaborated with a coalition of government, industry, and nonprofit organizations to develop a powerful and impactful consumer awareness campaign. Today, we have unveiled the unified public awareness message to help digital citizens stay safer online: “Stop. Think. Connect.”

This message evolved from President Obama’s call for a memorable national public awareness campaign focused on cybersecurity.  “Stop. Think. Connect.” is designed to be a simple tool that can be easily understood and used by everyone online. It’s a strong, effective message because it is actionable and it puts power in the hands of the user. Through the coalition’s extensive research, we learned that consumers are anxious to take personal control of their online actions and help the greater online community. In our own research, we found this was true, too, with the majority of parents taking action to manage their children’s online safety.

Members of the coalition are supporting this campaign in various ways, including promoting it on their websites and highlighting it in consumer-facing communications. At Yahoo!, we will leverage our network of consumer services, which reaches 600 million users worldwide, to promote and increase global awareness of this effort.

Digital Citizenship Summit

Additionally, we are gearing up for Yahoo!’s fourth annual Digital Citizenship Summit on Oct. 15. Yahoo! is partnering with the Santa Clara County Office of Education and leading national nonprofit organizations to help educators create digital environments that put safety within arm’s reach of children.

Discussions will center on how it takes collaboration among parents, teachers, nonprofit advocates, law enforcement, and Internet companies to create a safer online environment for children. Educational leaders from San Francisco Bay Area schools K–12 will learn strategies to build a safety network, including student guidance techniques and online incident mitigation.

Attendees will also hear from national safety experts, including Common Sense Media, ConnectSafely, iKeepSafe, i-Safe, and NetSmartz.

Educators will receive a sneak peek at iKeepSafe’s Generation Safe™: New Media Mentor for Digital Citizenship™ program, and will have the opportunity to be a part of the pilot program for free.

And that’s not all. As part of our ongoing efforts with our nonprofit partners, we will be supporting a number of initiatives:

• Common Sense Media’s national TV and online public awareness campaign, called “Power to the People,” is designed to educate parents about the impact of media and technology on kids. Yahoo! is helping to increase awareness of this campaign by donating advertising inventory across our network.
• I have been appointed as the co-chair of the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI). The FOSI annual conference, to be held Nov. 9–10, is a marquee annual event that brings together thought leaders across government, industry, and nonprofit sectors to collaborate on solutions in online child safety.

It will be a busy month for Yahoo!’s online child-safety efforts and we are eager to help digital citizens and educational leaders create safer online experiences for themselves and the greater community.

-Catherine Teitelbaum, Yahoo!’s Director of Child Safety and Product Policy

Have you ever wondered how online hackers gain access to your personal information?  What if I told you that in many cases it was YOU who provided them with the information they need to gain access to the data you value most?  It’s true, but a free tool called the “sign-in seal” is one way to avoid becoming victim to piracy.

What’s a sign-in seal and why do you need one?  Great questions!

A sign-in seal is a secret message or image that you select to help protect your account from fraud such as password phishing. When you create a sign-in seal for your computer, you can be sure you’re on a legitimate Yahoo! site each time you use your computer to log in to your Yahoo! account. You’ll see the text or image you set up on your computer. If it’s not there, you might have landed on a “spoofed” site.

The sign-in seal you designated is only saved on the computer you created it on – therefore if you log in using a different computer, you will not see the sign-in seal. If you use more than one computer or browser, you can choose to create a sign-in seal for each.  If you don’t see your sign-in seal on the sign-in page, the webpage you’ve opened is likely a fake Yahoo! page. If this happens, you should report the incident to Yahoo! customer care immediately!

Another important tip: do NOT create a sign-in seal on a computer you share with strangers such as those in libraries, Internet cafes, and other public hot spots.

For more information on online safety, please visit: http://security.yahoo.com
Have a wonderful day!

Jeff Russakow
EVP of Customer Advocacy
Yahoo! Inc.

Below are the key findings.

Parents take action

We are encouraged to learn that parents are taking action to actively monitor their kids’ online activity.

• 70% of parents talk to their children about online safety at least 2-3 times a year; 45% talk to their children least once a month.
• 74% of parents are connected to their children’s profiles on social networking sites.

• 71% of parents have taken at least one action to manage their children’s use of the Internet or cell phones.  Parents are checking to see where children are searching online, setting time limits, setting parental controls on video sites, and using filters to limit where their children go on the Web.

Dads are doing their part and then some.

• 71% of dads (compared to 63% of moms) say they are taking at least one action to help manage their children’s online behavior, including having conversations about respecting the privacy of others and checking their children’s privacy settings.
• Fathers more often check to see what personal information can be easily found about their children by searching their names online.
• 53% of dads surveyed told us they plug their children’s names into a search engine at least 2-3 times per year (compared to 38% of moms), and 33% of dads told us they search at least once a month.

“Digital footprint” is a mystery to many

Do you know what your “digital footprint” is?  If not, you’re not alone.  65% of people are not sure what a digital footprint is.   I define a digital footprint as the data trail (i.e. photos, profile information, comments, and blogs) that you leave through your activity in a digital environment. The survey unveiled that:

When was the last time you conducted an online search of your name or your child’s name?  We found that only 20% of people plug their own name into a search engine once a month or more, and 49% of people do it 2 – 3 times a year or less.  That’s not enough.  This is not about doing a vanity search; it’s about learning what’s out there and ultimately taking control of your online image.

What to do:

Yahoo! believes that education is key to empowering people to be proactive in managing their online image.  To keep you and your children safe in a digital world, take action.

• Know your connections: Only connect with people you know offline.
• Think before you post: Once something is posted online, it’s virtually impossible to take back because words, pictures, and videos can be easily forwarded, copied, and taken out of context.
• Protect your personal information: Posting personal information or photos can identify you to strangers. Never reveal personal information to people unless you are friends with them offline. 
• Configure your settings: Take the time to understand the profile settings that are available to you on websites and social networks, and tailor those settings for you.
• Understand your digital footprint: On a monthly basis, search for your name on search engines (like Yahoo! Search) and social networks to understand what type of content is associated with you.

The reality is that we live in a digital world where our photos, videos, words, and actions continue to live online long after they are originally communicated. With the continued growth of the Web — particularly social networking sites — digital-reputation concerns will also continue to grow.  We applaud the parents who are taking an active role in keeping their kids safe online, and we encourage parents to use Yahoo! Safely as a resource for relevant, up-to-date strategies and tools to help foster safer online experiences for their families.

Catherine Teitelbaum, Yahoo!’s Director of Child Safety and Product Policy

Ad Interest Manager is a central place where Yahoo! visitors can see a concise summary of their online activity and make easy, constructive choices about their exposure to interest-based advertising. Ad Interest Manager is also a continuation of our ongoing commitment to helping consumers get the information they want while protecting their privacy at the same time.

At Yahoo!, we believe that ads tailored to users’ interests make online experiences more compelling and user-focused. The new tool Yahoo! is launching today will show users what interests we think they have, and also let them edit and change those interests to reflect the most up–to-date information. Importantly, users who don’t want interest-based ads can turn them off completely. With the introduction of Ad Interest Manager, users can not only get a better understanding of how interest-based advertising works, but they can also communicate better with Yahoo! and our advertisers about what most interests them.

Yahoo! Ad Interest Manager is currently online in the U.S. and will be made available to European users in the coming weeks. Planned future enhancements to the Ad Interest Manager will also let users add categories of interest that Yahoo! may have missed.

Yahoo! was one of the first companies to implement a layered Privacy Center model more than eight years ago, which provides people with a central place to understand and control their options when it comes to the use of personal data. This is coupled with an industry-leading data-retention policy which strives to ensure that Yahoo! retains data only long enough to serve our business and create the highest quality user experiences while maintaining the ability to fight fraud, secure systems, and meet legal obligations.

To read more about Ad Interest Manager, please click here.