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What's New |
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WebWatch Releases Landmark Study on Childrens' Web Sites
Publishers of many major children’s Web sites should do a better job disclosing sales and advertising information to parents, especially as more kids at younger ages go online to play and meet friends, says a study released today by Consumer Reports WebWatch and the Mediatech Foundation. For the study, parents in 10 families used video cameras to keep journals, providing insights into the way children use sites such as Club Penguin, Webkinz, Nick Jr., Barbie.com and others. Footage from those journals, which can be viewed here, illustrates how young children respond to advertising and marketing tactics online. The study, "Like Taking Candy from a Baby: How Young Children Interact with Online Environments," used ethnographic methods and focused on young children, ages 2½ to 8. Download a PDF of the study.
Fighting Cybercrime in New York State
Consumer Reports WebWatch kicked off its "Look Before You Click" campaign in New York State, supported by a grant from the New York State Attorney General's Office, with this list of 10 Tips for Home Computer Safety. We followed up with Six Tips to Help Keep You from Getting Phished. We'll be releasing more fact sheets to help keep you safe online, investigate online auctions and offer some interactive surprises. In the meantime, make sure to read our latest fact sheet, Five Tips to Help Avoid Auction Fraud.
Reported Losses From Internet Crime in 2007 Hit an All-Time High
According to the recently released 2007 Internet Crime Report, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 206,884 complaints of Internet crimes during 2007. Of the complaints received, more than 90,000 were referred to law enforcement around the nation, amounting to nearly $240 million in reported losses, a $40 million increase in reported losses from complaints referred to law enforcement in 2006. Download a PDF of the report here.
Consumer Reports WebWatch in the News
WebWatch Director Beau Brendler recently spoke to MSNBC.com about work-at-home scams. You can read other articles about WebWatch here.
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Research
Reports |
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Families and Children  Like Taking Candy From a Baby: How Young Children Interact with Online Environments...view |
Financial 'Security Risk' Blocks U.S. Military Overseas from Free Credit Report Site: No Free Online Access for Millions of U.S. Citizens...view |
Health HealthRatings.org Rates the Web's Most Popular Pharmacy Sites: Sites a Valuable Health Tool, But Shouldn't Be Sole Health Info Resource...view |
Financial 'Free' Credit Report Sites: Worth the Real Costs? Review of 24 Sites Shows Potential for Consumer Confusion, Unnecessary Services...view |
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FrontGroups.org |
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WebWatch has teamed up with the Center for Media and Democracy to launch a new site devoted to outing front groups. Check it out!
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Read about our new study on kids' sites: Like Taking Candy from a Baby.
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StopBadware.org |
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StopBadware proudly celebrates its two-year anniversay of helping keep consumers safe. See how they can help you. . . .
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Guidelines Compliant Sites |
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We add 20 sites to our list of publishers and businesses that agree to uphold our guidelines. This latest group includes Forbes.com; Quixtar.com, part of Amway; Experian; and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America....view
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"A small group of thoughtful people could change the
world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
-- Margaret Mead
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