Information Privacy is Paramount at eGuardian (Podcast)
Listen to the podcast (mp3)
(Intro - Ron)
Hi I'm Ron Zayas, CEO and co-founder of eGuardian.
(Ron)
Protecting children online has received a lot of attention in the media lately. As a leader in child protection on the Internet, we believe it is important to clarify our position and eliminate common misconceptions around protecting children online through age verification. I want to personally share with you how eGuardian works, and assure you that our efforts are 100 percent intended to protect children from online threats.
eGuardian works in conjunction with parental controls, network filters and site blockers to deliver a deeper layer of protection. It is not a substitute for parental oversight. Unlike systems that restrict access, eGuardian actually enhances a child's online experience by allowing them to safely join popular community websites without exposing them to online predators and adult content.
Most importantly, we do not sell information on our kids. Period. Websites pay us to help them protect children, and by being more secure, they are able to attract more parents (and thus) more children. Participating websites use the eGuardian ID to identify each child as a minor and to block access from adults while allowing interaction with other eGuardian-verified children.
Websites do not pay us for marketing information to pass along to their advertisers. This would directly violate our covenant with parents. We will never disclose the name or address of any child or parent in our database to anyone outside of law enforcement.
There is also some confusion over a school's role in our verification process. Schools do not provide information to us. Parents provide us the information we need to verify a child's identity, including the parents name, child's name, age, school, address, gender and parent's signature. Parents then ask the child's school to verify that information, so a trusted, third party is telling us that the information is correct. This is the basis of our security. Schools simply verify what parents provide. Although our verification process only takes a minute, we pay schools for their time to ensure we are not imposing a burden on their resources. We also allow schools to use the eGuardian service to raise funds. If they hold a fundraiser with eGuardian, 100% of the proceeds go to the schools. In no way does the school ever release information; it can only be done at the parent's request, and for the purpose of protecting children online.
(Outro - Ron)
At eGuardian, children's protection and privacy are paramount. I thank you for listening, and if you have questions about our service or privacy policy, we invite you to contact us at +1 877-348-2731 or email us through the website.