➟ As companies rush to add great new features, such as
rich profiles, avatars, extended networking (friends of
friends), video and music players, bots, gadgets, buddy
searches, and shopping and location tools, they cut
corners on hardening the products against a variety of
online crimes and abuse, leaving consumers at risk.
➟ In the race to be first with a new feature, or to catch
up with a competitor, tradeoffs are required. All too
often, the first features cut and the last features reluc-
tantly added are safety related, such as filters for
images and text, safety information within products,
the ability to turn off or restrict access to high-risk fea-
tures, as well as tools that specifically help users man-
age their exposure, and tools to help companies track
abuse behind the scenes on their services.
Service providers will continue to innovate, and this is good news for
everyone. However, consumers have the right to be informed about
each new feature that affects their exposure to risk, and we should be
able to determine whether the risk potential is appropriate for us and
our families. Automatic upgrades without safety messaging bears a
strong resemblance to the old bait-and-switch tactics when consumers
aren’t given the right to choose. The Internet industry has for years pro-
moted self-regulation of online tools and services, but it’s consistently
failed to deliver adequate safeguards for consumers.
Use your common sense when dealing with online
services. Most Internet services and products are busi-
nesses. They’re for-profit organizations, not philan-
thropic endeavors. Building safety into products costs
money, may slow development, and probably restricts
the number of users (like restricting users under a cer-
tain age, or filtering content prior to exposing it on
the site) which in turn reduces their revenue.It’s important to remember that many free sites aren’t
free; the companies might make their money by sell-
ing advertisers access to their users, so more users
341Chapter 16: Knowing Your Rights and Making a Difference