Yesterday the Berkman Center for Internet & Society released its report, Child Safety & Online Technologies: Final Report of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force to the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking of United States Attorneys General at the State of the Net Conference in Washington, D.C.  

Microsoft participated in the Task Force, and we have released a response letter to the United States Attorneys General from Scott Charney, corporate vice president for trustworthy computing on the Microsoft End to End Trust website.

The full text of Scott Charney's letter is here.  Here are some of the  main points:

Our core positions on this matter, which I will expand on in this letter, are as follows:

  • Internet privacy, safety and security are at the heart of our values as a company. We are committed to promoting strong methods of authentication on the Internet that can lead to greater accountability in a host of online scenarios, while also respecting personal privacy. The core technology needed for such privacy-friendly strong authentication already exists, although much of the service infrastructure to use such technology has not been deployed.
  • Microsoft views the online safety and age verification issues that the Task Force is addressing in a broader context. Today, the way identity is "proven" on the Internet is seriously flawed, thus leading to a raft of security and privacy problems, including identity theft and fraud. Permitting computer users to transmit and service providers to consume stronger proof of identity may address many of these issues. But to create a more secure Internet with greater privacy protections, any solutions adopted must be governed by traditional fair information principles that respect the right of users to choose what information to convey about themselves and must also protect free speech, freedom of association and other important social values.
  • We think it is generally accepted, and hope you agree, that we should not mandate age verification-or any identity scheme-for use on the internet, including on general-audience social networking services. Different forms of authentication are appropriate for different contexts, and we believe users should ultimately make the choice as to which identity measure they wish to use in a given context.
  • There will be some exceptions to this rule: for example, governments might choose to mandate secure access to critical infrastructure resources such as power plants. But in other contexts, mandatory forms of strong authentication-such as age verification or weaker credit card authentication-would not only compromise privacy but would have a chilling effect on other important social values such as freedom of expression, and might simply drive users to offshore or unregulated services. We want to be clear, moreover, that it is in part because some governments may mandate strong forms of identification as a condition of online activity that we want to work with you and other stakeholders to generate greater availability and use of optional environments with stronger forms of authentication - in order to respond to safety concerns in ways that do not undermine these social values.
  • We have reviewed with interest the literature summary of the Task Force's research advisory team and think the academic researchers have done an excellent job. One thing we see in this research is that the benefits of age verification in terms of online safety are unclear; that sexual solicitation of very young children by adult predators using age deception is almost never an issue.
  • We do not believe, however, that these findings should be taken as an excuse to do nothing. Among other things, the research also shows there is evidence that cyberbullying among youth is a serious issue, and that identity issues - the sharing of passwords, e.g. - are also fairly widespread. We think that this warrants us doing what we can collectively to re-orient public awareness towards fewer fear-based messages about sex predators and towards a greater appreciation for the issues children may face with respect to their peers.
  • To that end, we also believe that there is room in the marketplace for online environments that provide more secure forms of authentication and greater accountability. Microsoft remains interested in fostering environments that provide for greater accountability and in exploring the technical, privacy and other issues raised by the creation of such environments. In particular, we would welcome ongoing discussions with you about the role that government can play in helping to catalyze the availability of such options, recognizing the role of government as an important provider of identity in our society , as a policymaker who can help to ensure identity providers treat personal information with sufficient care, and as a public official with the ability to help create greater public awareness on online safety and privacy issues.

Here's a summary of blog reactions from safety advocates who participated in the Task Force:

  • Parry Aftab, Wired Safety: "The conclusion? We need more research, it has to be timely and relevant and this is only a first step, not the answer."
  • Anne Collier, Net Family News: "[the report]represents a stark choice all stakeholders have going forward: continue down the road of fear-based online-safety education or together match all messaging to what the research says - fear-based or fact-based."
  • Larry Magid, Connect Safely: "More research needs to be done to identify these young people and provide them with resources and protective services. The fact that most kids are safe is reassuring but it's not sufficient."
  • Marsali Hancock, iKeepSafe, "I particularly want to recognize the AGs and their role in reducing Internet crimes against children. The research also reflected the need for other sectors of the community-public health, education, and parents-to become involved in keeping children safe online."
  • Adam Thierer, Progress and Freedom Foundation," I believe this Task Force and its report represent a major step forward in the discussion about online child safety in this country.