California's Children

Mobile apps for kids: only 2% meet fed privacy regs on data mining

April 16, 2012: Only 2% of smartphone mobile apps intended for children disclose what personal information is being collected and who is receiving that information, writes the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in a report, "Mobile Apps for Kids," and reported on by Eleanor Yang Su of California Watch.

Mobile apps can capture a broad range of user information from the device automatically – including the user’s precise geolocation, phone number, list of contacts, call logs, and unique device identifiers.

Co-authors of the FTC report, Patricia Poss and Andrew Hasty of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, reviewed the promotional pages for 400 mobile apps aimed at children, including alphabet and word games, math and number games, memory games, stories, flash cards, and puzzles.

The problem they found was the broad range of services that data could be collected for; some apps may require it for the service, for eg., mobile gaming apps that allow a child to identify and connect with others playing the same game nearby, while others may not need to collect data to provide the service but still do so without the user’s knowledge.

Parents generally cannot determine, before downloading an app, whether the app poses risks
related to the collection, use, and sharing of their children’s personal information. Parents need clear, easy-to-read, and consistent disclosures regarding the advertising that their children may view on apps, especially when that advertising is personalized based on the child’s in-app activities.

The report also identified issues of disclosure with features such as linking to social networking sites, which it found to be "highly relevant" to parents selecting apps for their children, and that such functionality should be disclosed prior to download.

From California Watch:

Some apps collect and use children’s data for a positive purpose, said Alan Simpson, vice president of policy at Common Sense Media...point[ing] to an app that teaches algebra, tracking responses to earlier problems to best tailor instruction in a challenging way.

“What makes a lot of parents uncomfortable,” he said, “is when they are not informed about the collection and use of data.”

The report did not delve into what information apps actually are collecting from children, but the FTC is looking into that and plans to release its findings within the next four months.

According to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, a notice of information practices must be linked clearly and prominently (for eg., a larger font size or a different color type on a contrasting background) on the home page of the online service and at each area where it collects personal information from children. A link in small print or a link that is indistinguishable from other links on your site is not considered clear and prominent.

A notice of information practices must include: the name and contact information of all operators collecting or maintaining children's personal information through online service; the kinds of personal information collected from children (for example, name, address, email address, hobbies, etc.) and how the information is collected -- directly from the child or passively through cookies; and how the operator uses the personal information, for eg., marketing, notifying contest winners, allowing the child to make the information publicly available through a chat room.

Written for California's Children by Elizabeth J Carlyle.

Oakland charter gets two-year reprieve to clean up $$ mess

UPDATE, April 5, 2012: The San Francisco Chronicle's Jill Tucker reports this morning that the Oakland USD voted 4-3 last night -- in a public meeting heavily attended by school supporters -- "to allow the American Indian Public Charter School II to continue operating for another five years,[however] board members said they would move to revoke the charter if problems are not fixed within two years."

Previously reported:

April 4, 2012: The American Indian Charter School II in Oakland (90% of its 302 students are Asian-American) may close: staff of Oakland USD has recommended to the OUSD school board that the school's charter not be renewed. The board will vote tonight on the recommendation.

Now we can "friend" LAUSD

March 22, 2012: LAUSD is going viral. The Los Angeles Unified School District thinks is may be the first district in the country to hire a full-time employee to develop, manage and coordinate all social media for the nation's second-largest public education system.

As reported in the Los Angeles Daily News, Stephanie Abrams, left, whose background is television news (CBS/KCAL), is being paid $93,300 ($87,000 of which is being funded by the Goldhirsh Foundation). She has thus far revived the district's moribund Facebook page, and opened Twitter and YouTube accounts. Coordinating and, where needed, initiating individual schools' websites will also be part of the program. 

"The sky's the limit," Abrams told the Daily News reporter, Barbara Jones. But not necessarily in freedom of expression -- it may be social media, but it's still school:

With Abrams working to boost LAUSD's online presence, the district quietly implemented a new social media policy governing employees' conduct on social networking sites.

Teachers and others must keep personal and school-related networks separate and student information confidential. The district also reserves the right to monitor email and other online exchanges on their district computers.

"District employees and associated persons should keep in mind that information produced, shared and retrieved by them may be subject to district policies and is a reflection of the school community," the policy said.

 

 

LA APP Center for Community/Family Services picketed for provider non-payments

At left, Gwen White, executive director of the Center for Community and Family Services, Compton.

UPDATE, January 13, 2012: Over 50 child care providers and parents who have not received payment from the Center for Community and Family Services, protested yesterday outside the agency's headquarters in Compton. The agency is an alternative payment program, contracted by the state to determine eligibility of families for subsidized child care (e.g., under Stages 2 and 3 of CalWORKs), and make payments to authorized providers. The protesters left complaints pinned to the lock doors of the agency (photo below).

UPDATE, October 15, 2011: Janette Williams, reporting for the Pasadena Star-News on the closure of 15 Head Starts serving 1,397 children and operated by the 41-year-old Center for Community and Family Services, (founded in 1969 under President Johnson's poverty program funding; at the time, the agency was known as PCHNO -- the Pasadena Commission on Human Need & Opportunity; the CCFS also operates child development centers for the state):

As soon as all 15 Head Start sites in Pasadena, Altadena and Glendale re-open under interim management, federal officials said their focus will be on the former operators' $5.1 million budget deficit and the alleged financial irregularities that led to the program's abrupt closure.

Foster kids: ID theft, financial abuse bill signed into law

UPDATE: October 13, 2011:  A new federal law, by Conressman Jim Langevin (D-Rhode Island), at left, intended to protect foster children from identity theft and financial abuse has been signed into law, reports David Klepper of the Associated Press.

The Foster Youth Financial Security Act, signed by President Barak Obama on Sept. 30, requires states to perform credit checks on all foster children to ensure their Social Security numbers are not being exploited, and if so, resolve cases of identity theft before they exit care so they can start with a clean slate; it also  prohibits child welfare agencies from identifiying foster children by their SS number in their records, reducing the number of people who have access to such important information on a regular basis.

From the AP report:

Robert Fellmouth, a law professor at the University of San Diego and director of the Children's Advocacy Institute, estimates that as many as 30 % of foster children may be victims of identity theft. Officials in California reviewed credit reports of foster children in Los Angeles County and found more than 100 victims of identity theft who were 16 and 17 years old. Victims had an average of more than two accounts opened in their name, with an average of $1,800 in debts in each account.

Medical bills and telephone services were the most common type of account, followed by cable television service, credit cards and utilities.One child was found to have a $217,000 home loan.

The culprit could be a close relative wanting to pay a bill, open a utility account, or support an addiction, though foster parents and child welfare officials are sometimes to blame too, Fellmeth said. States have done a poor job of protecting foster children from identity theft. Too many age out of the system only to discover their credit is ruined and they have nowhere to turn.

States including California, Colorado and Connecticut have passed laws mandating credit checks for foster children before they leave state custody.

The Children's Advocacy Institute of the University of San Diego issued a report last week with this statistic: Former foster children have overtaken war veterans as the single largest population in California's homeless shelters. Further, the report states that California, like many other states, has been "stealing from our foster kids." The writers, in the introduction to the data, warn, "...brace yourselves for the revelations that follow. This is not a set of pretty truths." Each year, according to Robert Fellmeth, executive director of the Children's Advocacy Institute, states and counties intercept nearly $200 million in benefits that rightfully belong to foster children.

... the cost [aged-out foster kids] who can’t function properly on their own is approximately $5.7 billion a year, in the form of lost earnings (and thus lost tax revenues), criminal justice system expenditures, and government cash assistance and health programs. On an individual level, each foster youth who drops out of high school costs the public sector $209,100 over a lifetime due to lost wages and greater need for public support services.

In a blog post on the CAI site, writers from the Institute claim:

States across the country regularly confiscate the assets of foster children, including Social Security survivor and disability benefits -- all but ensuring these youths’ failure as they “age out” of the foster care system at age 18...Each year, about 30,000 of the nation’s 500,000 foster children turn 18 and become legally emancipated. The rates of homelessness, educational failure and unemployment among these foster alumni far outstrip rates for other youths.

In San Diego County, for example, according to a report on KPBS radio, the decision has been made:

 "...to take foster kids' Social Security money, a decision made by most counties across the nation. County officials refused to grant KPBS an interview. Instead, they released a statement outlining California law that a foster child’s Social Security benefits can go toward the use and benefit of the child.

But [CAI attorney and report co-author] Kriste Draper, who works at The Children’s Advocacy Institute, said the county is deliberately misinterpreting the law.

“Why would it ever be in the best interest of the child to reimburse the state for money that already must be spent on them?" she asked.

Draper said the money would be better spent on orphaned foster kids when they turn 18.

The Children’s Advocacy Institute (CAI) and First Star report documents that many state governments have been legally confiscating the funds of foster children. These assets flow from Social Security benefits earned by deceased family members or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits. States apply for the benefits – many times without informing the children -- then redirect the funds to state agencies for foster care services those agencies are legally obligated to provide.

Specifically, the report lists the following categories in which theft, fraud, and neglect have occurred: diversion of OASDI and SSI benefits; failure to notify child's attorney/GAL that an agency has applied to be or was appointed as the child's representative payee; failure to screen foster child for OASDI/SSI eligibility and to provide assistance in applying for benefits; assets and resource caps on how much money a foster child can save for the future; failure to required dedicated accounts to hold benefits for each youth; failure to require states to check into foster youth's credit records and repair credit where necessary; failure to pass conserved funds to the youth in a timely manner on aging out.

The report, entitled “The Fleecing of Foster Children: How We Confiscate Their Assets and Undermine Their Financial Security,” released at a congressional briefing on Capitol Hill, describes in detail how many of the young victims end up homeless and without resources as state after state confiscates their personal assets. Child advocates believe the problem will only get worse as more states address their budget problems. (Primary authors of the report arre CAI staff attorneys Elisa Weichel, Melanie Delgado, Christina Riehl, and Kriste Draper; and CAI policy consultant, Amy Harfeld.)