Author: Julie Campbell

Mobile security issue for children identified by recent study

| September 9, 2015

This project has determined that about half of websites and mobile apps share this personal info.

An international project focused on online and mobile security has now released the results of an analysis that it conducted on 1,494 apps and websites around the globe, and they determined that over half are collecting and sharing the personal information of children.

This issue may be very worrisome to parents who are increasingly allowing their children to use mobile apps.

In fact, among the apps and websites that were analyzed by the mobile security project, 67 percent were collecting the personal information of children. Moreover, 50 percent of the analyzed sites and applications were sharing the personal information that they collected from children with other organizations. The project was taken on by the Global Privacy Enforcement Network (GPEN). This analysis was conducted as a part of a broader annual privacy sweep and the numbers that they found with regards to what children were able to share with websites and apps were insightful.

This could represent a major mobile security issue of which parents had been previously unaware.

children mobile securityAmong the key findings of the analysis by the GPEN were the following:

• 71 percent provided no opportunity for parents or children to delete account information
• 67 percent of sites and mobile apps were collecting personal information from kids
• 58 percent presented the opportunity for a child to be redirected to another website
• 32 percent had implemented effective controls to restrict personal information collection from kids
• 50 percent shared with third parties the personal information collected from children
• 24 percent encouraged the involvement of parents
• 23 percent contained features that allowed for the uploading of pictures or videos
• 22 percent presented an opportunity for a child to enter his or her telephone number

The GPEN has opted not to publish the list of sites and apps that were studied in this mobile security analysis. That said, it has been underscored, the majority of sites and apps collect and share this information for the purpose of targeted advertising and not for dubious reasons. Equally, the high importance of teaching children about online and mobile privacy was also stressed.

Mobile technology and PCs can take a decade off mental age

| September 8, 2015

Senior citizens who use these devices regularly can delay what could otherwise be cognitive decline.

Among the greatest fears that people face when it comes to aging is that their mental abilities will decline, but if the findings of a recent study are true, then it could be that the regular use of PCs and mobile technology could help to slow that process in a highly meaningful way.

Cognitive and mental decline were found to have been delayed in users of smartphones and computers.

The study was published in the respected medical journal, Intelligence, in which it was described that the use of computers and mobile technology could help to explain why today’s seniors seem to be four to eight years younger (on a cognitive level) than people of the same age a decade ago. The study showed that the positive impact of these computing devices held up, even when controlling for certain factors such as health, gender, and education.

The mobile technology study was conducted on participants in the U.K. and Germany who were 50 years and older.

Mobile Technology - SeniorsThere were about 2,000 participants in the study who were tested back in 2006. Then another group of 3,000 were tested in 2012. The conclusions were drawn by Valeria Bordone and her team at the International Institute for Applied Systems analysis.

According to Bordone, “We know that IQ (intelligence quotient) has been increasing for many decades.” The trend of continual increases in IQ is known as the Flynn effect, and it has been observed since the 1930s. The way in which it has been explained is that throughout this period of time, there has been a worldwide improvement to access to nutrition, healthcare, and education for the population as a whole. Despite the fact that these improvements have been subtle from one year to the next, they have given people the ability to access more mentally stimulating activities and to better their cognitive abilities. The outcome has been higher IQ test scores.

That said, Bordone explained that IQ is considered to be a very limited way of measuring cognitive skills, so this study involved a broader range of testing, to achieve greater accuracy. The link between the use of computers and mobile technology and the slowing in cognitive decline among seniors was shown by correlation in Bordone’s study, as opposed to being directly demonstrated.