Having children, I’m inundated regularly with safety and security scenarios. Buckle the kids up. Where are the children? Is that safe to eat? Put the cleaning supplies out of reach. Who's that strange man at the park? Let's get this book over that book. Are the kids old enough to watch this movie? And on and on it goes. What I've found is that there are no cut and dried approaches to keeping your kids safe and secure.
I've also noticed that parents approach this "problem" very differently. I spend a lot of time observing peers who have kids and how they handle the inherent safety and security concerns all around them. I've categorized parental approaches to safety and security as follows:
1. The Paranoid Overprotectant. These types of parents see the world as one big mousetrap from which they must protect their kids. Every label must be checked, every instruction must be followed, every situation is rife with danger, and every person is a potential molester. These parents largely are motivated by fear and tend to see a successful day as one where no one got hurt. Safety and security for these parents means avoidance and devices: avoid as many potentially dangerous situations as you can and buy safety gadgets for the rest.
2. The Carefree Freewheeler. These parents see the world as a playground on which their children can get some exercise. Rarely is safety and security on the forefront of their minds and only the threat of legal action will get them to follow the most basic safety guidelines. These parents are motivated by freedom and success for them is a day where no one was restricted from doing what they wanted. Safety and security for these parents means having a good insurance program and a huge box of band-aids.
3. The Cautious Guardian. These parents see the need to be aware of what they would call real safety and security concerns but also see the need to balance that with the inherent risks of being a kid. These parents attempt to educate their children on dangers, prepare their children and themselves for potential disaster, and order their lives so that obvious risks are minimized. These parents are motivated by a desire to get the most out of life and view a successful day as one where the maximum amount of good was done with the resources available. Safety and security for these parents means doing what is reasonable to minimize risk, preparing for the worst, and working towards the best.
As with parenting, I think the best approach to computing is captured in the Cautious Guardian parent. Browsing defensively is about getting the most out of the web and using the web as a powerful tool to be harnessed not feared or avoided. Browsing defensively is about taking the necessary precautions and implemented the necessary tools to be safe on the internet but also about thinking differently about how you browse. It's about being aware, being alert, but not letting the fear of a virus or spam prevent you from getting the most out of your browsing experience. Browsing defensively is about know what tools you have at your disposal but browsing in such a way that you never have to use them.
In the next Defensive Browsing article, we'll look at how the Cautious Guardian approach can be applied to using the internet safely by examining "Pardi's Three 'A's" of safe browsing.