Computers and Society.
After a year in which Internet access for schools was
a top priority, a report by the U.S. Department of
Commerce suggested that closing the "digital
divide" between technology haves and have-nots
would require more than just additional Internet access.
Studies showed that minorities, poor people, and
residents of rural areas were less likely to have
computers, access the Internet, or use new technologies
than were whites and those financially better off. The
report warned that the digital divide would hurt the
ability of minorities to get jobs in areas that required
technology skills. It was said, however, that lower
prices for PCs had helped bring computing to more lower
income families and that federal subsidies had helped
bring Internet access to more schools and libraries.
The government issued its rules aimed at protecting
children from intrusive Internet marketers. The FTC,
acting in response to the Children's Online Privacy
Protection Act of 1998, said that Web site operators had
to prominently post their privacy polices and set forth
what information they collected from children, how that
information was used, and whether it was passed on to
other people. It also said that parents had to be given
access to data collected on their children and be able
to have that information deleted if they requested it.
The FTC also required Web sites to get verifiable
consent from parents before children gave the sites
personal information.
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