"Explain which information is personal - email address, mobile, school name, pictures and videos, arrangements to meet friends. Small details can be pieced together."

Given that the most sensitive data will be held on the government's ContactPoint database, which, as with all government databases, will be leaked and mis-used, it probably won't make any difference.

Under New Labour, nothing is personal.

Black flag really is a black flag of doom and gloom. While I agree with your comment, we are talking about Children here not Gordon Brown's mess up's.

Thank you MEN for this article, as it reminds us all to be vigilant in protecting our most precious.


Regards
Concerned Mother

If you really want to protect your children, don't let them use the internet without your supervision (NOT IN THE NEXT ROOM, BUT ACTUALLY SITTING BEHIND THEM, MONITORING WHAT THEY GET UP TO - if you don't know what you are doing don't let them on at all); until they are old enough 15 or 16 years old.

The internet is not a safe place and will never be and the advice above is missing so much, if you wouldn't drop your child off alone in the middle of a vast city where the people are drunk, take drugs commit violent crime, con and steal, then you shouldn't let them on the internet - there are two (american) billion internet users, if only five percent are dodgy, thats fifty million. Thats 50 MILLION PEOPLE TRYING TO CON, CORRUPT, STEAL FROM OR OTHERWISE HARM YOUR CHILD !
Heres some information for young adults;
1. Don't click on flashy icons, they can contain software that may be able to access data ion you pc and send to someone.
2. Don't download videos unless you know the site, they can be trojans,
3. Don't believe links recievied in emails are from who they appear to be from.
4. Don't complete registration forms without checking the URL against what it should be.
5. just because someone says they are a fourteen year old girl doesn't meant they are not a 56 year old balding geezer
5. supposed internet protection software are ineffective and easily bypassed by savvy internet prowlers

etc .. ..

This is not unreasonable, my children weren't allowed on the internet unsupervised till they were sixteen. They are both very computer savvy - Your children will not be "missing out" if they don't go on the internet alone, its mainly an adult playground and business communications tool - there are brilliant educational sites but you wouldn't randomly drop an eight year old off in a city because it had a great museum, you would take them to the museum and avoid the seedy places and night life.

I agree with Bob McKenzie, I have worked in the computer industry for 25 yrs and have been " on the internet" for nearly as long. Even back then it was the norm for us to use false names and details, not because we were upto anything but because you don't just give your details out to anyone - I still don't ever give my real identity on the internet, friends and family know my real identity though. It was also the norm, and this is when there just weren't any children on the internet for a large percentage of males to have a young girl persona - in reality they were mostly computer geeks living out harmless fantasies in cyberland - hiding ones identity on the internet is not always to deceive, but its fair to say that most people, except the niaive ones won't be exactly what they say they are. I am actually a female, but to demonstrate to my daughter that because she had a lot of internet "friends" it might not be reality I had her connect as a boy. She was shocked to find that her "popularity" went right down, even though she had the same interests.
I believe there are two reasons why girls/women get more responses on the internet, one reason is obviously that many males are looking for a female and they are naturally more predatory (I don't mean that in a totally negative way), they are willing to take a chance and meet up because it is safer for them. The other reason is that women are seen as less predatory so it is seen to be safer to associate with females, they won't pursue you. Men, who are acting out women/girl roles are sometimes just looking for more contact (and some titillation) without strings and therefor will not be inclined to pursue because it would not fit with their female persona - perhaps amusingly a lot of (big burly hairy) men will be chatting away to each other believing they are communicating with a girl - no harm done then!
The answer is, don't let young girls and boys cruise the internet - its asking for trouble. Men are always getting "the rough end of the stick" because they are being held more responsible for their actions than women are.