SBN

The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA)

What Is CIPA?

Enacted in 2000 by the United States Congress, the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) limits children’s exposure to explicit internet material such as obscene content. CIPA mandates that K-12 schools and public libraries must deploy technologies that filter this type of content on internet-connected computers in order to be eligible for federal funding such as E-Rate.

CIPA Requirements
There are a number of requirements for CIPA.

Schools and libraries subject to CIPA must certify that they have an internet safety policy that addresses the following:

  • Access by minors to inappropriate matter on the internet
  • The safety and security of minors when using electronic mail, chat rooms, and other forms of direct electronic communications
  • Unauthorized access, including so-called “hacking,” and other unlawful activities by minors online
  • Unauthorized disclosure, use, and dissemination of personal information regarding minors
  • Measures restricting minors’ access to materials harmful to them

Schools subject to CIPA must also certify:

  • Their internet safety policies must include monitoring the online activities of minors
  • As required by the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act, they must provide for educating minors about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms, and cyberbullying awareness and response

The Internet Safety Policy Must Include Technology Protection Measures

The protection must block or filter out pictures that are obscene, child pornography, or harmful to minors.

Akamai Enterprise Threat Protector and CIPA

If configured and used correctly by the customer, Enterprise Threat Protector can assist the customer in complying with the Children’s Internet Protection Act by identifying the content category of a requested internet domain (example.com) so that offensive or inappropriate domains can be blocked.

For more information about Enterprise Threat Protector, visit akamai.com/etp.


*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from The Akamai Blog authored by Jim Black. Read the original post at: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheAkamaiBlog/~3/FzuhQ-7H5hI/the-childrens-internet-protection-act-cipa.html