Old and young planted face to the digital divide

the Whole world is connected. Including the young and old. The greater part of the population uses the internet. Escape it is mission impossible but also unnecessary. No doubt the benefits of the Network, but also urgent to be aware of its dangers . Train and inform is vital. And for this reason, OCU and Google, in collaboration with the Spanish Agency for Data Protection (AEPD) and the National Institute for Cybersecurity (INCIBE), have presented this Thursday the second edition of the campaign “Live in a Safe Internet”.

According to the INE, 85.6% of children 10 years using the internet . Of them, 93%, use the “smartphone” to be connected. “With all these data, we had to renew our commitment to building an environment much more secure,” said Francisco Ruiz Anton , director of policy and public affairs at Google. “Privacy and security are as important in the online world as in the offline life -he continued-. The campaign ‘it Lives a the Internet Safe ‘ will help the children and older people learn the fundamental concepts of safety and digital citizenship so that they can explore the online world with confidence.”

the Whole process is disruptive entail challenges and risks. This is what has happened with new technologies. “There is no doubt that the arrival of the internet has produced a before and an after in the access to information but also it seems that we’ve gone from one Disney world to another apocalyptic”, exemplified by the manager, and he highlighted how younger and older make increasingly more use of ICT. “However, the same is not true with the security tools. And this is something that all affects us. It is necessary to carry out a task of prevention and training leg to make a responsible use of the Network”.

The objective of this initiative is that users have a greater control and knowledge about your security and privacy, because minors and older people tend to be especially vulnerable, presenting a greater knowledge about the environment and the risks that can entail.

More and better content

The new platform “Live in a Secure Internet” seeks to inform families on how to have proper control over your online security and privacy by using:

– A guide for parents and educators to teach youngsters to recognize and address the different challenges of the internet in an original and dynamic.

– A guide to major : with tips to be able to enjoy all the advantages of the internet.

The platform will continue to provide general information on aspects as relevant as:

– Protect your account , enabling the verification in two steps or by using strong passwords.

– secure Connections , making sure that the Wifi network that you are using is official.

– most secure Methods to carry out banking transactions and shopping.

– Configuring security in the cell.

– Control your privacy and data.

Older, the margin for lack of training

“ older people are a group too heterogeneous in that the digital divide is given much more remarkable , ” said Carlos Martinez Ozcáriz, director of the Democratic Union of Pensioners and Retirees of Spain (UDP), one of the participants in the round table which analyzed the use of the Network major and minor.

And is that the figures for internet access by this group are amazing. According to the latest Report Mayoresudp, 56% of people between 64 and 74 years of age, has sailed by the Network any time, mainly by the computer (80,4%), although substantial increases in access through mobile phones (50%).

According to the organisation, despite progress, the digital divide continues to exist, especially among older people, since 81.1% of those over 74 years of age, has never gone on the internet. Do not forget that the INE, in its reports, it does not cover over 74 years of age. “There are more than 3 million people who are not in the statistics,” he complained Martinez.

in spite of this, the person wanted to claim a “budget broadband” for the group which it represents. “ it Is necessary a bonus social for seniors . The problem is that you are not interested in anyone because it is now sold all of the integrated package,” he explained. Even so, it has required a response in order to give an outlet to those who or if you want to have ADSL, as it happens in the rural world, where “ the picture is bleak despite the fact that access to information is a right , ” he recalled.

This lack of access encourages even more the lack of training. “The 33% learned how to use the internet because they retired recently, and I learned on the job. The same percentage is of those who chose to learn on their own. And a 15% surf the web-thanks to the training that has been provided by the family members,” added Martinez, who urged an urgent need for someone to encourage to be older because this is a group that “has been left out of all of the administrative processes that are done by way telematics. For them, relate with the public administration is something horroso,” he assured. “ They have been thrown out of the system . The greatest interest to the public administration or to the operators or companies,” he complained.

But the internet is not only a dark world. It also has many lights. “ More than 73% of the elderly considered that the internet is very helpful to combat loneliness , ” said Martinez. “Older people look to the Network with hope and affection. For this reason we must reach out,” said the director of the Democratic Union of Pensioners and Retired persons of Spain. Only if they form, will no longer “fear” the dangers of the Network, which are supported on the basis of ignorance.

Minors over the Network

Next to Martinez, have also participated in the round table Camilo Jené, president of FAPA, Federation of Associations of Parents and Mothers Giner of the Rivers, and Jorge Flores, general manager of Screens Friends.

“the Internet worries us,” said Camilo Jené to address the hazards that are part of the Network, in a clear reference to the access of minors to certain types of content, such as pornography, or practices that have born the heat of the technology such as “sexting” or “cyberbullying”.

“Our kids live close to mobile. This is already inevitable,” he acknowledged. To fight against this reality does not have sense. New technologies form a part, in fact, of the classroom, as well as new models of learning. “But it is necessary to educate teachers and families on a good use of the Network”.

For the expert, the measures of parental control are not the optimal solution with which to educate their children on the proper use of the Network. “I choose more for the dialogue and listening to our children.” At the same time, Jené pointed out the need for the administration to act on the advertising of online betting house, for example, comes directly to the children, as well as other types of ads are sexist.

“the Internet will very quickly”, recalled Jorge Flores, general manager of Screens Friends, at the time of analysis of the dangers of the online world. If to this is added the lack of training for all (parents, children and teachers) “we don’t have time for reflection”. Even so, it has advocated that all users of the Network will have a critical thinking with respect to the services that they use or people with whom they interact.

But there is one equation more than failure in terms of the protection of the privacy and security on the Internet: “it Is a question of the collective level. That is to say, it is not enough that only I boat safely”, added the expert, who has advocated for you to be selective in the online world in order to avoid certain vulnerabilities. The director-general of Screens Friends also recalled how the internet has contributed on the rights of the child, as the internet has been fostering the involvement of minors in the society, in the context of the promotion of safe use, and provided them with the prmoción, providing them with opportunities that would never have gotten otherwise.

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