Brussels, 03/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - Only two out of nine social networking sites examined (Habbo Hotel and Xbox Live) have default settings, which make minors' personal profiles accessible only to their approved list of contacts, according to a report by the European Commission on Friday 30 September.
The report looks specifically at implementation of the “Safer Social Networking Principles for the EU” by blogging (Skyrock) and gaming (Xbox Live) platforms, photo and video sharing platforms (YouTube, Dailymotion, Flickr), virtual worlds (Habbo Hotel, Stardoll), platforms that have some social networking functionalities (Windows Live) and platforms that allow the creation of personal profiles with the possibility of uploading blog entries, photos and updates (Yahoo! Pulse). The report illustrates that only Habbo Hotel and Xbox Live have default settings which make minors' personal and identifiable information visible by default only to their approved list of contacts, regardless of how much information about themselves is posted on their profiles. In the other seven websites tested results showed that a considerable amount of personal information - including information added by users after registration - was displayed by default to users beyond the minor's approved contacts list. This information did not necessarily lead to immediate identification of minors, but could do so. In six of the services, minors' profiles could be directly accessed by friends of friends. Unregistered users could gain access to minors' profiles via their blog, or a video or picture the minor had posted online. Once a minor's blog, individual videos, pictures, video channels or photostream are found (e.g. via an external search engine or via a link sent via e-mail, etc.), access to the minor's profile is granted. Eight out of the nine sites tested provide safety information, guidance and/or educational materials specifically targeted at minors (all except Windows Live). In Windows Live, the information provided was aimed rather at parents or guardians, although it could also be easily understood by young people. Dailymotion, Flickr, Habbo Hotel, Yahoo! Pulse, Skyrock, Stardoll and YouTube provide safety information for children and parents, easy to find and to understand. By default, only in one of the nine services tested could profiles of minors be found by name searches either via internal or external search engines (e.g. Google, Bing or Yahoo!). (LC/transl.fl)