The use of technology is becoming more and more important in our society today. One huge technological use is the internet and it is used across the world by millions of people. Whether it be for fun, using it for communication, or even for work, the internet plays a big part in the majority of people's lives. When it comes to the internet, you might not always be thinking about whether or not your privacy is being invaded, and whether you think so or not, there is always a risk. Privacy is the state or condition of being free from being observed or disturbed by other people. Luckily, there are a handful of laws that have been passed which help to protect an individuals privacy online. 

One of these laws is called CIPA. The CIPA is the Children's Internet Protection Act and it was enacted to address the concerns about children's access to obscene or harmful content over the internet. This act requires that K-12 schools and libraries in the United States use internet filters and implement other measures to protect children from harmful online content as a condition for federal funding. The CIPA defines "harmful to minors" as any picture, image, graphic image file, or other visual depiction that that (1) appeals to an interest in nudity, sex or excretion (2) depicts, describes, or represents, in a patently offensive way with respect to what is suitable for minors (3) lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value as to minors. Overall, this act was instilled to create a means of internet safety for minors and to have filters created to prevent them from gaining access to inappropriate sites. 

Another law that was passed relating to privacy online is called the Child's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). This law was created in order to protect the privacy of children online under the age of 13. COPPA was passed in order to address the rapid growth of online marketing techniques that were targeting children. The act now states that sites must require parental consent for the collection or use of any information of young website users. An example that demonstrates the requirements for this act is when an individual creates a Facebook account, and an age restriction pops up stating that users must be at least 13 years old. Though this law has been enforced, it is difficult to implement age restrictions on the internet and there is no single solution to ensuring that children do not lie about their age. Statistics show that about 7.5 million Facebook users in the U.S are under the age of 13, and about 5 million are under the age of 10. Even though Facebook can't always prevent under aged children from creating an account, they will delete their information if they learn of users who are under 13 years old. 

There are many useful resources for teachers in regards to making sure privacy laws are being taken into consideration. As a teacher, it is your responsibility to ensure that any sites, programs, or online tools are appropriate for your students. Schools already provide filters for such inappropriate sites, but teachers are offered many great sites and programs that are already student appropriate such as schoology, quizlet, book wizard, scholastic news, and many more.

Sources

• http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/COPPA
• http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/underage-facebook-members-75-million-users-age-13/story?id=13565619
• https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act