Intelius - Intelius

Which is your favorite charity?

glynch — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 22:19:27 +0000

Several of Intelius’ nonprofit partners are featured in Evening Magazine’s “The Best of Western Washington.” The nonprofits are competing among 267 others to win the honor of BEST favorite local charity! Intelius has seen first-hand what these organizations have done for our community, and we wish them all the best of luck.

Here’s a bit about each organization:

Hopelink
Since 1971, Hopelink has served homeless and low income families, children, seniors and people with disabilities. Hopelink's mission is to promote self-sufficiency for all members of our community.
Vote here

The Sophia Way
The Sophia Way assists single homeless women in East King County, Washington on their journey toward independence. They provide shelter, permanent housing, and supportive services. Currently, they are the only staffed overnight shelter for single adult women on Seattle’s Eastside.
Vote here

Treehouse for Kids
Treehouse programs offer kids in foster care what all children so desperately need: a safe place to dream. Their six core programs – Tutoring, Educational Advocacy, College and Career Planning, Little Wishes, Summer Camp and the "Wearhouse" – give foster children a real childhood as well as hope for the future.
Vote here

YWCA
The YWCA's mission is to advance the quality of life for women of all ages, races and faiths, and their families. In support of this mission, the YWCA provides services to meet critical needs, promote self-sufficiency, reduce violence, eliminate racism and achieve equal opportunities for all people.
Vote here

Youth Care
Founded in 1974, YouthCare was the first shelter for homeless youth in the Western United States and continues to be a leader in providing services to this vulnerable population. YouthCare offers services ranging from street outreach and residential housing to education and employment training. Intelius sponsors their “YouthTech” program, which teaches kids about Cisco IT Essentials and gives them hands-on classroom technology training.
Vote here

Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue
Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue was founded in 1952 with one Clubhouse in downtown Bellevue. Since its inception, the Club has provided the young people of our community with a safe environment where adults respect and listen to them; a place where they can have fun. Today Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue operates 14 sites within the City of Bellevue. Intelius sponsors their “teen center.”
Vote here

Cast your vote today to help out these fantastic partners. Winners will be announced here on October 24^th.

Gina Lynch
Community Relations

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Can Privacy Advocates and Information Brokers Strike a Balance?

tlien — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:24:49 +0000

School teachers used to warn students that any bad grades they received would be forever noted on their infamous permanent record. In a digital era where social networking sites dominate the internet, and privacy has become more of a luxury than a necessity, individuals everywhere have much more to worry about than a bad report card. In the endless controversy regarding our first amendment right versus consumer privacy rights, the 20^th Annual CFP (Computers, Freedom, and Privacy) Conference brought together rights activists, companies and attorneys from a variety of backgrounds in hopes of striking a balance between online information brokers and privacy.

The argument between free speech and privacy is in many ways two sides of the same coin. Consumer advocacy groups argue that not only are consumers unaware of how their personal information is being collected and used, but they also cannot do anything to change this. On the other hand, certain attorneys, large search engines and information commerce companies cite that while privacy is valued, so is safety and trust to the people you are interacting with on a daily basis. Luckily, both sides support forums like CFP that can create functional transparency in the public information industry and can help define and clarify the large gray area that is the foundation for endless lawsuits and controversy.

In a CFP panel titled, Online Information Brokers and Privacy: Where’s the Balance, representatives of non-profit consumer advocacy organizations like the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and the World Privacy Forum instilled concern in viewers by alluding to specific anecdotes where public records of individuals (such as witnesses or domestic violence witnesses) have led to harassment and identity theft. Generally speaking, these activist groups aim to spread awareness and advise consumers on how to protect their privacy rights. They also stated how public records can pose security concerns because of the way fraudulent businesses in the past have used data in malicious ways.

Intelius Chief Privacy Officer, Jim Adler, served on the other end of the panel working together with privacy activists to create a balance and ultimately find a way to better serve the needs of consumers. Adler noted that Intelius is not only aware of emerging concerns, but is also interested in increasing communication and collaboration with rights advocates to reach a middle ground. In addition, he noted that the company understands that the higher level of transparency being created by social media and the internet also means privacy issues that need to be addressed. For these reasons, Intelius has developed specific policies to differentiate itself from many other online information companies. While other businesses do not give you the option of deleting your information (citing free speech), Intelius has a free opt-out policy where individuals (i.e. threatened witnesses, law enforcement, and domestic violence victims) can remove themselves, no questions asked.

Different from a large amount of information brokers being attacked by activists, Intelius does not sell lists of information. Instead, they act as an information retailer that buys lists, gathers information and sells it one at a time to consumers in hopes of providing insight and security. Intelius, Adler states, believes that in order to “strike this balance, you’ll need to be able to have an environment where you can innovate responsibly… trust the individuals you interact with, and provide people with valuable services,” requiring industry collaboration. Ultimately, he believes that it is necessary to work together with privacy organizations to use public records in proactive ways that ultimately empower consumers. However, even though Intelius can help you remove your name from their database, there are still hundreds of other companies willing to give out your information for a price.

In the midst of a social media phenomenon, consumer advocacy groups show how free basic public records have recently transformed into more robust reports from aggregators like Spokeo.com, who compile a wide range of information, including personal information from social networking sites. The average consumer, they argue, is unaware of how much of the personal information is online and how it is being used. In a new age of modern permanent records, popular sites like Facebook and Twitter are the face of a hidden world of commercial data brokers. Moreover, not all information is accurate, and even if consumers are aware, they are unable to erase or correct their personal records. As a company dedicated to ultimately providing customers with a valuable service, Adler declared “the next step is to give you transparency to the info that’s out there, know what your digital footprint is, and then provide a way to comment, dispute and correct (it)”.

Privacy advocate organizations also noted there is a wide spectrum of information commerce companies that make up the industry, and not all can be placed in the same negatively perceived category. The very idea that certain companies, like Intelius, were interested in participating in such a conference sheds light upon companies and their willingness to address their consumers concerns.

Forums like CFP are able to bring together all sides of the issue, and through industry cooperation, increase the likelihood of creating clear definitions and viable solutions. Both consumer privacy activists and information brokers support an approach that requires advocates, consumers, companies, and regulators to come together to figure out what’s right.

All participants on the CFP panel agree that in the future, data collection is inevitable, and panels like this can help create a balance between privacy and public records. Adler ended his speech reminding viewers that “innovation is a team sport and it requires everyone to help us get through this in a productive way that empowers the customers.” In the meantime, consumers need to be informed and aware of the availability of their personal information, knowing their online activity may forever be accessible on their modern permanent record.

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Get involved in the iEARN Youth Summit 2010!

acaldwell — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:22:09 +0000

Right now students and teachers from all over the world are meeting in Barrie, Ontario to discuss some of Today’s most pressing global issues. From the environment to social oppression; the iEARN Youth Summit 2010, hosted by TakingITGlobal, allows its participants not only to share their own ideas, but to meet and learn about like-minded youth from around the world.

You don’t have to be in Barrie, Ontario to join in on the action! This year, Intelius is sponsoring the iEARN virtual conference in association with the Summit. To join the discussion go to www.iearn2010.tigweb.org and click the ‘Register’ tab in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Once you’ve made an account you’ll have access to the live webcast from the Summit, videos of the summit events, event photos and more! Feel free to add to the conversation with your own blog post or Tweet.

Here’s just a taste of what’s being said on the Virtual Conference site right now:

On Twitter:

RT @peterskillen: The real deal. Kids at the youth summit painting murals while Milton Chen speaks to teachers at #iearn2010 Nice vibe! http://bit.ly/cCHja9

On the Blog:

“ W.A.K.E- worthy argument, attach people emotionally, know your audience, effective imagery! The workshop Action Planning W.A.K.E: The Four Pillars of Awareness, Free the Children was about cause marketing campaigns and how reach and the effect people take away from social visual imagines. The workshop went through a series of social and environmental campaigns. The women running the workshop would go through images and ask the students what they felt the message meant. It required the students to pay attention to small details and think about the real message behind the image. The session finished with a game of taboo; which demonstrated word associations with different problems around the world. The workshop was fun and enlightening!”- Lani Chevat

On Youtube:

You can follow the event on Twitter @inteliusiearn or on Facebook.

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Cutting Costs at the Expense of Privacy: Mobile Coupons Help Companies Get to Know their Customers Like Never Before.

acaldwell — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:41:35 +0000

With the rapid growth of mobile phone usage, retailers everywhere have started to pay more attention to the advantages of incorporating mobile marketing into their advertising campaigns. Through the use of mobile coupons consumers are able to cut costs on the go and learn about the latest discounts at their favorite stores and restaurants.

However, these are no ordinary coupons. By signing up for mobile discounts, many consumers do not realize these coupons have evolved into a method for companies to track customers and learn more about their spending habits. While personalized mobile advertisements may seem harmless to consumers, they do come with a hidden cost; your privacy.

Much different from the coupons you cut out of the Sunday paper, these new digital coupons use special bar codes loaded with information regarding when it was obtained, where it was used and sometimes even the search term used to find it. According to Ariana Eunjung Cha, business correspondent to the Washington Post, many retailers are now combining this information with “guesses about your age, sex and income, buying history, web sites you’ve visited, and your current location” in order to generate personalized customer profiles.

Companies say this new wave of mobile marketing will allow them to produce advertisements created uniquely for each individual. Moreover, customers no longer have to cut coupons but rather will be able to effortlessly carrying them wherever they go merely by bringing their cell phones with them.

However, consumer advocacy groups argue that if not regulated mobile marketing, and, in this particular case, “behavioral targeting” can be used to exploit consumer information and can quickly transform into an invasion of privacy. The question is, as in most debates regarding privacy, where do we draw the line? The problem is most mobile marketing campaigns are still in the early stages of production and there is very little uniformity as to how exactly they work.

Robert Drescher, Chief executive of mobile coupon company Cellfire explained how much marketing companies already know: “We can already tell if you are near or inside a store and can give you particular offers, but that’s the kind of thing we’re moving fairly cautiously on so that the user can get to know us and trust us first”. With this new technology, retailers can guess what exact products you might need, and can therefore target you with specific and effective advertisements and offers.

The bottom line is that there are clear pros and cons of the rapid growth of digital coupons, but the new wave of mobile marketing will continue to thrive as long as sales of smartphones continue to rise. On the plus side, you will spend less time searching for discounts and deals for the products you are looking for and won’t have to worry about dragging around stacks of coupons in order to save money.

On the other hand, retailers now have access to more detailed personal information in order to create these deals. Customers need to decide for themselves: If you are concerned with privacy issues, here are a couple things you should know to keep marketing companies away from your personal info:

Pay close attention to the fine print when signing up for special offers and coupons – many consumers unknowingly give permission to their personal information when presented with a good deal. Be sure to always read the fine-print before adding a mobile coupon application.
Don’t worry too much, nearly all programs are “opt-in”, meaning that you actually have to sign up to participate in these programs. Keep in mind that this may also include opting-in to individual offers.
Be wary of sending text messages to special numbers promising cheaper deals because you may be signing over usable information (i.e. “COUPONS” to 44554). If you choose to do this you may want to consider signing up for an identity protection service such as Intelius IDProtect.

It is clear that recent years have brought a boom in the amount of information available to companies on the internet. Individuals just need to be aware of these changes so that they can decide for themselves where they need to be most careful.

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Online Daters Beware: Without a Background Check you never know who you're meeting.

acaldwell — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:06:52 +0000

It seems that online dating has fast become the new way for singles to meet that special someone. A recent study, published in Online Dating Magazine, suggests that more than 120,000 marriages occur each year as a result of online dating. I mean, who doesn’t know someone that met their significant other online? This new online Mecca for singles is not however, foolproof. We are all aware of the risks – article after article is published cautioning online daters not to give out personal information on online dating sites and to meet their date the first few times in a public place. The fact is these concerns could all but be rendered unnecessary if online dating sites ran consumer background checks on all their members.

In a recent scandal surrounding Match.com, convicted murder Abraham Fortune set up a seemingly normal profile on the popular online dating site. The retired San Antonio, TX salvage yard owner was looking for love, that is, until a local reporter recognized and outted him. Busy singles aren’t the only ones flocking to online dating sites – criminals and the already married are also acting on the trend. In fact, Dave Evans, editor of Online Dating Post, told the San Antonio Express that “every single dating website out there has child molesters and murders.”And yet, according to Stephaney Alexander whose website womansavers.com allows women to research a potential mate for free, despite the fact that many online dating websites don’t perform background checks, users feel relatively comfortable that they won’t run into criminals on the sites. “I can understand why daters are getting a false sense of security – they are paying a fee to be on their site.”

Many are hoping that this will lead to a revolution in the Online Dating industry. Julie Spira, cyber-dating expert and author of "The Perils of Cyber-Dating: Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online," told ABC that it would be helpful for sites to at least give users the option to do a background check on other members. But until this happens online daters need to take their safety into their own hands.

When reviewing potential matches on online dating sites take the following precautions before arranging to get to know any of your potential partners any further:

If you’ve emailed back and forth with a potential partner a couple of times through a dating site there is a fair chance that you know their name, their age, and the city they live in. This is all the information you need to run a full consumer background check on Intelius.com. Intelius background check services have been recognized by Top 10 Reviews as the #1 background check service. These reports will provide you with any aliases that person may have, their marriage and divorce records, their criminal records and more.
Use your potential partner’s name, city, and screen name to try and find their profile on other social networking sites. This can help you figure out if their online dating profile is consistent with the self they present on other networks.

These tips are designed to help you avoid criminals, married men and women, and sex offenders and to help you determine if a person’s profile is an accurate representation of themselves. However, the only way you can know for sure if the person you’ve met online is the one for you is to get to know them. Good luck!

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Customer Bill of Rights

acaldwell — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 23:30:04 +0000

You, the customer, are vital to us. We have created the following Customer Bill of Rights as our pledge to you.

The Right to Transparency

You have the right to be provided accurate product information so you can make an intelligent and informed choice about whether to order a product from us. Product information presented by us will be complete, accurate, and up-to-date.

The Right to Satisfaction

You have the right to expect that our products fully meet our representation and explanation of them. When it comes to any of our products, we say what we do and we do what we say. If for any reason you are dissatisfied, you have the right to change or cancel our service and any request for a refund will be promptly, fairly and reasonably addressed.

The Right to Customer Service

You have the right to timely communication with a live customer service representative by telephone or by e-mail at no charge; to be treated with courtesy, respect, and fairness; and receive prompt response to your questions or concerns.

The Right to Privacy

We care about how your personal information is handled. We review our privacy policy regularly to ensure it meets industry standards and we seek input on our privacy policy from you our customer, leading consumer groups, and privacy advocates.

Intelius stands by our Customer Bill of Rights

Our Chief Privacy Officer is also our chief customer advocate and, at the direction of our Board of Directors, it is his job to make sure we say what we do and do what we say. If you have any questions about our Customer Bill of Rights, he can be reached at customers@intelius.com.

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Latest Phishing Scam: Email Scamers are Taking Advantage of Twitter-style Alerts!

drupal_admin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:59:00 +0000

With an estimated 3.7 billion phishing emails sent in the past year it is no surprise that phishers have set their sights on Twitter. The latest phishing scam sweeping the ‘Net' is a spam campaign designed to look like legitimate Twitter notifications.

The emails take many forms: Some resemble messages from Twitter customer support claiming that the site has detected an attempt to steal the receiver's Twitter password. Others claim that the recipient has changed the e-mail address associated with their account and ask them to confirm. The links in these emails lead either to a downloadable "secure module" which the emails claim will protect the account but is actually malware or to a phishing site designed to steal the user's account information. Online pharmacy spammers have also taken to Twitter-formatted emails to advertise non-FDA approved pills.

Those these scams don't seem very threatening at first (I mean, how much damage can some do with 140 characters?) but the repercussions having your Twitter account hacked are HUGE! Many people use the same password they use for Twitter for many other online sites; from Facebook to online banking, people just aren't taking necessary precautions with their passwords. So, if you enter your account information into phishing site and you use the same password for Twitter as sites like Facebook or your email that may house more personal information, the scammer can potentially get into your other accounts.

These scams, discovered by Trend Micro, are easily avoidable if you are aware of them and know what a legitimate Twitter email does and does not contain.*

Twitter does not send links to "secure modules".

Twitter emails request confirmations include the new account information.

Twitter emails do no describe or promote new services or products.

* Twitter email specifications via Trend Micro

Before you get hacked, consider taking these precautions:

Always read emails completely and thoroughly before clinking though the links. It can take a while for news of the latest scam to reach your ears so keeping a vigilant eye on all your emails is a must!

Use different, high quality, passwords for Twitter, Facebook, your email, and your online banking account. Secure passwords contain a random series of lower and upper case letters, numbers, and approved symbols. Such passwords should be more than 8 characters in length

Consider and Identity Protection service. Investing in and identity protection service, such as Intelius IdentityProtect, can prevent a scammer that acquires your information from using it. This useful advantage could save you tons of time and money.

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Personal Safety Procautions at World Cup 2010 in South Africa

drupal_admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 03:10:00 +0000

As always, large multinational public events generate heightened concern for personal security. The 2010 World Cup being held in Rustenburg, South Africa is no exception. The FIFA approved comprehensive security plan is broken into seven phases. The first phase began in 2004 when South Africa was selected to host this year's World Cup Tournament. The plan includes 41,000 Police Officers and $74.5 Million USD in hi-tech equipment. All the planning in the world however, can't insure the month-long event will go off without a hitch.

The committee’s overwhelming focus has been on protecting the attendees against the potential for violent crime, however, even with all the preparations security does not appear to be very tight. Just yesterday, according to the Huffington Post , attendees witnessed several people setting off the metal detectors on their way into the stadium and then being waved in by smiling security guards without being asked to do so much as empty their pockets! For attendees with credentials , people with advanced tickets that have passed 'pre-screening' checks, bag checks are often cursory or are not done at all. Monday the stadium stewards walked out in protest of low pay or their work, leaving the stadium more-or-less unguarded during the Italy-Paraguay match.

This latent security should leave attendees of the World Cup concerned, however, by following certain guidelines you can increase your chances of both enjoying the World Cup and staying safe.

Be mindful of your surroundings. As everyone knows, beer is a big part of soccer, but that doesn't mean that your entire group should go 'wild' and every game. Sure you don't have to drive, but South Africa can be dangerous and with so many tourists in town for the World Cup, you can bet that prospective criminals will be on the look out for anyone who seems to be enjoying themselves too much. So drink moderately at the games or, if that doesn't work, elect a rotating DN (designated navigator) to keep you on track to your hotel. Regardless of whether you've been drinking, always keep an eye on where you are, where you're going, and who's around you.

Try to 'blend in' with the crowd. When you're walking around, either before or after a match, try to blend in with those around you. Be mindful of your personal space, keep any valuables in inside pockets, but try not to call too much attention to yourself by being overly loud, pointing, or by straying out of tourist areas.

Stay in groups and on the beaten path. Don't go anywhere alone. At the very least bring a buddy, but a group of about 4 or 5 people is probably the safest bet. If your guide book or hotel tells you to stay out of certain areas, stay out of them. If security guards or police are ushering you away from a particular place, obey their instructions. Exercise common sense and good judgement while walking around the city.

Don't flaunt your wealth. American's are a prime target to a potential criminal because of their suspected wealth. While you can't change being American, you can change how you are precieved as a victim. So keep you money out of sight, and don't spend wildly while you're out in the city. Research tipping culture before you go to a pub or restaurant so you know how much is normal. Leaving too large of a tip can mark you as both inexperienced and wealthy. Also, as hard as it might be to resist, don't give too much money to people on the street - it can attract un-wanted attention.

If your wallet is stolen, report it immediately to your bank. If you notice that your credit cards or passport are missing report them immediately to the local consulate or your home bank. The sooner you report them the less likely you are to have your identity stolen or to be a victim of monetary theft. Before you go (if you are going for the later part of the month) consider investing in an Identity Protection Service , that way, even if your credit and personal information is stolen you will not be at risk for identity theft or fraud.

Maintain regular email contact with those back home. This is both for your safety and for the peace of mind of your family and friends back home. Arange to send an email to them on a regular basis - perhaps every 2-3 days. Agree that if you don't check in with in 24 hours of the agreed day, your freind or family member will report you missing to the authorities.

It's more than likely that you'll be safe for the duration of your stay in South Africa, however, the above precautions will give you and those at home some peace-of-mind while you're away. Just remember to respect the cultural and civil environment in which you are now a visitor!

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The latest scam YOU need to be aware of: 'tabnabbing'

drupal_admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 01:55:00 +0000

Think ‘tabnabbing’ sounds like the latest prank involving filing supplies and the office clown? Think again. Tabnabbing (also referred to as tabnapping) is a new type of phishing attack that is sweeping the internet. Most phishing scams rely on you clicking on an imbedded link or downloading a file you find in a suspect email, sketchy website or a pop up window. Tabnabbing occurs in the background after your focus shifts away from a malicious or compromised site.

“What we don’t expect is that a page we’ve been looking at will change behind our backs, when we aren’t looking. That’ll catch us by surprise,” Said Aza Raskin, Firefox's creative lead who identified the attack. “Most people keep multiple tabs open, often for long periods.”

This attack uses JavaScript to discretely change the contents of an open but not active tab in your browser to look like the log-in screen of a bank, credit card company, popular retail site, social networking site or email provider. This page transformation only occurs after the page becomes “inactive” while a victim moves to another tab or open program. The scammers are relying on users thinking they left a login page tab open.

"When they click back to the fake tab, they'll see the standard Gmail log-in page, assume they've been logged out, and provide their credentials to log in," says Raskin.

Raskin was able to recreate “tabnabbing” on his own blog to show users what to look for. You can try it here. After clicking the link, open a new tab, or simply click away from the page for a few seconds and then go back to the original tab. While the URL hasn’t changed, the original blog content you saw only moments ago has been replaced with what appears to be a Gmail login page. In this case the Gmail login page is just an image; however, in the case of an actual tabnabbing attack the page will be a functional login form.

In an actual attack after the user enters their login information, it’s sent it back to the attacker, and then the victim redirected back to the site they think they are logging into. This often goes completely
undetected because often the victim was never logged out in the first place, and it will simply appear as if the login was successful, never realizing that they just handed over the all credentials the attacker needed to access their account.

It is even possible for attackers to detect which sites are in your history as well as what sites you are currently logged into and then customize the fake page to resemble a site you often use or are currently logged into, making this form of attack extremely effective and difficult to detect. All major browsers are susceptible to this attack.

Here’s what to watch for and how to avoid a potential tabnabbing attack and keep your identity, information, and login credentials safe:

Don't log-in on a tab that you haven't opened yourself. Since the tabnabbing tactic banks on you trusting that you opened the tab -- and that the site simply timed out -- the best defense is this offensive move. In other words, if you see a tab that contains a seemingly-legit log-in form, close it, then head to the site yourself in a new tab.

Enable browser settings and filters that will alert you to potential attacks. For Internet Explorer (IE) use SmartScreen. In Firefox and Chrome it's called "Phishing and Malware Protection;" Safari doesn't give it a name, but offers a setting that reads, "Warn when visiting a fraudulent website" in the Security section of its Preferences settings.

Look at the URL in your browser's address bar before filing in any form or giving out any personal information and verify the URL matches the login page. If there’s a discrepancy, close the tab
immediately.

Use a password manager. Third-party browser password managers like RoboForm for Windows or 1Password for Mac link saved log-in usernames and passwords to a specific URL. When you save the username and password on the log-in page of the legitimate site, the password manager won't auto enter the username and password into a non-matching URL which should alert you to a possible tabnabbing attempt.

For more info on avoiding Tabnapping read ComputerWorld’s How to Foil Web Browser Tabnapping.

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Are your kids staying home alone this summer? This is what you need to do.

drupal_admin — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 01:30:00 +0000

As the last day of school and summer vacation draws near, working parents are faced with making tough decisions about what to do with their kids while they are at work. For many American families full-time childcare program is simply financially infeasible. Hardly a rare phenomenon, more than 3 million children under the age of 12 stay home alone at least some of each week in the US, with an even greater number of teens also staying home alone. A study by the American Psychological Association suggests that staying home alone is not necessarily bad for children, concluding that the success of kids staying home alone depends more on what they do while home alone than the fact that their parent isn’t there with them. Leaving your kids home alone can be nerve wracking but, with the proper preparation and structure in place, it can be a good experience for both your children and you.

Is your child ready to be home alone? Before you prepare your children to stay home alone on occasion this summer you should ask yourself a few questions: Are your children able to keep themselves entertained or do they need constant supervision? Do they get along with each other or do they fight a lot? Do they understand and follow instructions? How do they make decisions under pressure? Once you’ve asked yourself these questions you should ask your children if they want to stay home alone. Many children will answer this question honestly – especially when they are younger. If your children (or eldest child) are comfortable assuming the responsibility of being home alone, proceed to the next step.

Do a safety check of your home. Before you leave your children at home make sure that there are no obvious safety risks in your house. For instance, make sure any and all firearms are locked in a safe to which your children do not have access. Lock away any alcohol, cigarettes, medicines, and potentially poisonous chemicals to ensure that your children will not have access to them while home alone. Also, remove any spare keys that you keep either under the doormat or near the door area. Thieves know people keep keys in these places. Move your key to somewhere less common and perhaps unique to your house and let your children know where it is, or better yet, leave the spare key with a trusted neighbor.

Establish “House Rules”. Come up with a list of behaviors you expect from your children while at home. Go over each item on the list with them and then post the list in a visible place in your house so that it can easily be referred back to. Include on the list things that they will both be expected to do and things that are off limits.

Prepare. If one of your rules is “No cooking” make sure you have food prepared for your children that doesn’t require cooking. If you require that they spend at least one hour a day reading make sure that appropriate books are available and that there is a system in place to check that they read when you got home. If you require that your children do a daily chore, make sure that any supplies needed to accomplish that chore are available for it and that your child knows how to perform that chore. Setting up rules that your children can’t reasonably follow sets you both up for failure so, make sure you help them succeed in every way possible.

Teach your kids how to answer the phone. One of your house rules should be that your children should always check Caller ID when the phone rings and should only answer calls from family and friends. Regardless of whether they know the person or not your children, when home alone, should always respond to a caller asking for their parents with the following phrase: “My mom/dad is not available right now, can I take a message?” Instruct them to NEVER tell a stranger that they are home alone.

Have an “Emergency Plan.” Talk to your kids about the potential situations they could get into at home and how they should respond to them. They need to know that serious injuries, fires, and criminal or suspicious activity are all are emergency situations and warrant calling 9-1-1. Prepare a first aid kit (Band-Aids, flash-light, etc) for your children and teach them how to properly use each item. Leave a how-to list inside the kit just in case they forget how to use something when the time comes. They also need to know what situations are not emergencies, so go over as many situations with them as you can. It can also help to teach your kids how to avoid emergencies. Come up with practice situations for your children: an in-home fire, a break-in, or a serious injury while playing outside. Make your children practice, step-by-step how they would respond in these situations. Obviously, you can’t prepare your children for every situation but if you role-play different circumstances it can help increase their confidence that they will be able to handle such situations should one arise.

Develop a phone check routine. Have a routine where either you (or your spouse) call the house (not your children’s cell phones, unless you have agreed that they will be at a friend’s house) to check in with your children at regular intervals. Make sure it is clear what times you expect them to be home to receive your calls. When you call ask questions that will help you find out how things are going: What are they doing right now? What else have they done today? Do they need help with anything? Has anything different or suspicious happened today? Also, make sure that your children know that they can call you whenever they need you during the day. Post your work and cell phone numbers as well as the numbers of nearby relatives or a trusted neighbor just in case they forget.

Know Your Neighborhood. Identify the hazards in your neighborhood and if you haven’t already, go out of your way to get to know the people that live nearby. In case of an emergency your kids may need to go to one of your neighbors for help. Pick at least one trusted neighbor nearby that will be home during the day and that your kids can go to for help if something happens. Also, run a Property & Neighborhood Report to locate and identify sex offenders in the area then, using the photos and addresses in the report, make sure your kids know where potential predators live and what they look like.

Listen and let your children know that you appreciate them. After they have had a few days alone sit down and invite them to share how they feel about being home alone and any questions or concerns. Be willing to listen to everything they have to say and try and make any adjustments necessary. When things go right, let them know that they’ve done a good job and that you are proud of them.

Although the task ahead may seem daunting, taking these steps will help your family stay safe and happy when you can’t be there.

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