Victory: N2H2 halts schoolroom snooping

[Gary Ruskin]

Commercial Alert				February 22, 2001

Victory: Web-filter company N2H2 Inc. announced today that it will stop
snooping and gathering market research from schoolchildren as they
browse the Web. 

N2H2 had boasted of its "drill down capability" into the Web-browsing of
schoolchildren, and that its "data collection mechanism is totally
unobtrusive."

Many thanks to all those who worked hard to remove N2H2 software from
local schools, and to put a stop to this abuse of the public schools and
the compulsory education laws to spy on vulnerable schoolchildren for
monetary gain.

Following is today's Associated Press article about N2H2.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010222/aponline182521_000.htm

Internet Co. Drops Data-Selling Plan 
By D. Ian Hopper

WASHINGTON –– A major Internet filtering company will stop collecting
and selling the Web habits of millions of schoolchildren who use its
product after privacy groups howled and the Defense Department had
second thoughts, the company disclosed Thursday. 

N2H2, which makes the "Bess" Internet filtering software, said it has
stopped selling its "Class Clicks" lists that report the Web sites
students visit on the Internet and how much time they spend at each one. 

After N2H2 announced its deal with marketing research firm Roper Starch
last September, privacy groups called the filtering company a "corporate
predator" and were incensed over reports the information would be sold
to the Defense Department for recruiting. 

"It is not the purpose of the public schools to abet corporations that
spy on the Web browsing of schoolchildren," said Gary Ruskin of
Commercial Alert, a Washington-based group targeting commercialism in
schools. 

The Bess filter is used by 14 million students in the United States in
40 percent of the schools that use Internet filters to screen out
objectionable Web sites. 

N2H2 spokesman Allen Goldblatt said his company and Roper Starch
"mutually decided" to drop the relationship. 

"From our end, this was a distraction for us," Goldblatt said. "What we
do is work on filtering." 

Goldblatt said that no personally identifiable data about kids were ever
collected or sold. Federal law prohibits collection or sale of a child's
personal information without parental permission. 

"Our business is protecting kids. We never would, never have, and never
will jeopardize anyone's privacy," Goldblatt said. "I think any time you
have a great public debate about privacy issues ..., this is a good
thing." 

The company will stop providing all reports, Goldblatt said. 

After writing to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to stop the deal,
Ruskin received a letter from the department saying that while learning
how kids used military Web sites would be "appealing," the department
now has second thoughts. 

"Prior to the news articles that were recently published, we believed
that Class Clicks was a commonly used market research service," reads
the February letter from W.S. Sellman, the Pentagon's director of
accession policy. 

"Upon further investigation, we realized that it is a new concept," the
letter continues. "At this point, we are delaying our decision about
participating in the 'Class Clicks' project, indefinitely." 

Ruskin called the announcement a victory, saying that many school
administrators said they did not know about the collection of data and
objected to its use. 

"It's good that N2H2 is going to stop its schoolroom snooping," Ruskin
said. 
 
The Electronic Privacy Information Center also began investigating the
"Class Clicks" list, asking the Defense Department and individual states
for their records on the deal. 

EPIC legal counsel Chris Hoofnagle said he was skeptical about N2H2's
commitment to privacy. 

"EPIC believes that children should not be profiled while using the
Internet," Hoofnagle said. "It's not clear from what I know now that
that will end." 

[snip] 

<-------article ends here------>

FOR MORE INFORMATION
about N2H2 or commercialism in the schools, see Commercial Alert's
website at <http://www.commercialalert.org/>.

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Gary Ruskin | Commercial Alert 
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Phone: (202) 296-2787 | Fax: (202) 833-2406
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