"You will not use Facebook if you are under 13."

Image Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk

Facts: A 12-year old girl from Northern Ireland posted suggestive pictures of herself on Facebook. The pictures portray the girl as heavily made-up doing provocative poses, making her appear much older than her actual age. Her father now sues Facebook for allowing his daughter to post the 'explicit photos'.

Issue: W/N Facebook can be made liable on the ground of negligence, for failing to verify the age of its users.

Discussion: Petitioner-father anchors his claim on the site's Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, particularly on item 4.5 which bars membership to those below 13 years of age. By failing to verify the age of the girl, Facebook allegedly failed to uphold it's own policy thereby making it liable for negligence as well for exposing the child at risk for sexual and physical harm.

Held: Case has not been decided yet and Facebook has not yet responded/commented as of 09/06/2011.

Notes (a.k.a Reality Check):

Perhaps (and I am not so sure about this) the only way that Facebook actually verifies the age of its members is by ticking the "I agree to the Terms and Conditions" and "I am over 13 years of age" boxes. Realistically speaking, with a gazillion users growing each day, checking violations of the age policy might prove to be impossible. Even if the company decides to place verification procedures, kids these days will find a way to circumvent the age requirement. It is worth noting that even child protection experts admitted that children will lie.

A lot of the comments/reactions regarding this news goes in the line of "Why blame FB when it was the child who posted her own photos?" or "The father's a failure." More than finger pointing to who's at fault -the child at her own volition; Facebook for violating its own policy; the Father for being a "failure" parent, -this case raises the issue of responsibility of child safety in the world wide web. Not only limited to social networking sites but child online privacy and protection in general. Parents cannot expect websites to police their own children. Likewise, sites cannot assume that everyone is complying with the age restriction. Again, online child safety (much like every policy formulation) requires a balancing act. But it is a much more complex set of relationships because according to Jim Gamble "there is a duty of care for the company, a clear duty of care for parents and a clear duty of care for anyone in whose care a child is put."

Source:

(1) http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/facebook-sued-by-father-over-explicit-photos-of-12-year-old-daughter/
(2) http://ph.news.yahoo.com/facebook-sued-father-over-explicit-photos-12-old-185907158.html

(3) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-14803664

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Entry No. 12

Soleil Flores

Cybersecurity is not on top of PH priorities

“In light of the recent spate of hacking directed toward its websites, the government reiterated its support for the passage of the cybercrime and data privacy bills, saying they are not taking these attacks lightly.”

--- Read full story here c/o GMA News

Image from the movie "The Matrix" 
(Photo Credit: http://www.moviespictures.tk/the-matrix.html)

This only shows how backward PH is in terms of ICT development. First, the coding practices used by the Government and perhaps other institutions in the country are below standards, if not obsolete. Most of these did not undergo rigorous security testing, for the simple reason that the establishment of safeguards require a lot of technical and monetary resources -which is very limited in this part of the world. Not everyone can afford to hire a professional systems analyst, more so the government. Second, cybersecurity is not a priority in the government's budget.  This is understandable considering that there are more pressing matters at hand such as education, social welfare and servicing foreign debts. For a developing country, the development of it's websites is the least of its concerns.

At present, the cybercrime bill and the data privacy bill are already pending in Congress on different levels. While everyone is hoping that the enactment of these bills would solidify government policy regarding online security, they are not an assurance that internet crimes will stop. At most, they will provide a sense of security for the users and a deterrent for hackers and the goons of the internet. Furthermore, an effective enforcement mechanism is necessary in order to fully implement the laws.

Passing a law is not the solution, but only a part of it.  Website developers, system analysts, programmers, and all internet users in general have to do their share to ensure the integrity and safety of their data and transactions across the web.


Entry No. 8
Soleil Flores

The Anti Medici

We are not a country of entrepreneurs. We do not have the blood of the merchants.

And yet going into business has recently been in vogue.

With online technology, it’s even easier to run a business. Buyers need not wait for time zone differentials to be able to contact their suppliers. They can get price lists and catalogues without having to wait for a post office parcel. With email, even FedEx seems too long. But if you really need to speak with your manufacturer in the US, you can use any VOIP program, and you want be charged exorbitant IDD rates.

For small businesses that cannot afford the latest (and therefore pricey) database for their inventory, they can use any one of the many open source applications online. You’re a retail chain with several branches all over the Philippines and can’t obviously physically be in any one of them at the same time? You can ask PLDT for an IP Camera where you’ll be able to see a 360 degree view of your store in Zamboanga, right at your desk in Manila. If you’re resourceful (therefore cheap), you can install a regular webcam in your Zamboanga store – not as fancy, but it gets the job done.

Business, has to be cutting edge, otherwise it will perish. It has to keep up with the changing times and tastes. Business can relatively keep up with technology.

Not so the law. In fact, our laws and our bureaucracy are not very conducive to the entrepreneur. Nowadays, it’s easier to run a 10k marathon than to open up a business. Case in point: I tried to register a business name with the DTI a long time ago (before law school). According to the website, you can do it online since their search engine would be able to tell you if your proposed business name is similar or confusingly similar to another already registered. What I didn’t expect is to be thrown like a ping-pong ball in the office, only to be asked to return the next day. Once it was “approved” and the certificate was about to be printed, some person decides to investigate into my background a little more because of I might not be a Filipino, because of my Chinese middle name.

Setting up is one thing, but surviving/thriving is another thing altogether.

On a larger, more multi-national scale, I wonder why corporations are not enthusiastic over placing their hubs here. Is it our labor laws/tax laws? Maybe it’s our culture in general?


For businesses, the problem has never been the market. There is always something to sell and someone willing to buy it. Their biggest problem is dealing with government (and its employees) who are not as avant-garde as business or sympathetic to the entrepreneurial spirit. It seems that our laws have not fully realized the potential of a self-sufficient entrepreneurial society. And every merchant who dreams of becoming the Next Medici Prince will just have to wait.