[etoys-dev] Re: [squeakland] account signup fields

[Kim Rose]

I think the Scratch site is a great one to follow -- I am sure they  
are doing all they need to be "fully compliant" with all current rules  
and regs.
Kim

On Sep 8, 2009, at 9:19 AM, Timothy Falconer wrote:

> Summarized:
>
> 1. Scratch requires an email address for all signups
>
> 2. Scratch doesn't give you an option to opt-out of emails in the  
> signup or website (i assume they do in mailings)
>
> 3. Scratch requires a birth month & year, and switches the field  
> label from "Email" to "Parent or guardian's Email" if too young
>
> Anyone with problems with doing things exactly like this?   (though  
> I'd still keep the "newsletter" and "weekly highlights" checkboxes.
>
>
>
>
> On Sep 8, 2009, at 12:13 PM, Timothy Falconer wrote:
>
>> Looks like we need a link from within the Etoys signup box to the  
>> privacy policy on the website.
>>
>> Someone should also think long and hard about this:
>>
>> http://www.coppa.org/comply.htm
>>
>> "The notice to parents must contain the same information included  
>> on the notice on the Web site. In addition, an operator must notify  
>> a parent that it wishes to collect personal information from the  
>> child; that the parent's consent is required for the collection,  
>> use and disclosure of the information; and how the parent can  
>> provide consent."
>>
>> "Before collecting, using or disclosing personal information from a  
>> child, an operator must obtain verifiable parental consent from the  
>> child's parent. This means an operator must make reasonable efforts  
>> (taking into consideration available technology) to ensure that  
>> before personal information is collected from a child, a parent of  
>> the child receives notice of the operator's information practices  
>> and consents to those practices."
>>
>>
>> We're not planning on disclosing any of this information, but it  
>> seems to be saying here that we need proof of a parent's permission  
>> before the email address is collected.
>>
>> Scratch requires:  birth date, email, gender, and country, with  
>> optional state/prov, and city.
>>
>> If you put in a birth date that's less than 13 years old, it  
>> switches the label from "email" to "email address of parent or  
>> guardian".
>>
>> http://scratch.mit.edu/signup
>>
>> Scratch's privacy policy is explicit:
>>
>> ----
>>
>> When you register for an account on the website, we ask for some  
>> information. The only required information is your username,  
>> password, gender, country and your month and year of birth.
>>
>> We also ask for your city and state or province, but this  
>> information is optional. We do not ask for your name, phone number,  
>> or home address.
>>
>> If you are 13 or over, we ask for your email address so that we can  
>> tell you when there are important changes or new features in  
>> Scratch. However, you do not have to give us your email address to  
>> use either Scratch or the Scratch website. If you are under 13, we  
>> do not collect your email address.
>>
>> We do not make any of your profile information public on the  
>> website, except your username and country.
>>
>> ----
>>
>> It doesn't come right out and say it, but email address (yours or  
>> your parents) *IS* required, if you want to post projects to the  
>> scratch website.  (They actually seem to contradict this.)
>>
>>
>> On Sep 8, 2009, at 10:06 AM, Timothy Falconer wrote:
>>
>>> My personal opinion on all this:
>>>
>>> Within Etoys:
>>>
>>> * username
>>> * password (twice)
>>> * email address
>>> * send me Squeakland's quarterly newsletter
>>> * send me weekly showcase highlights
>>>
>>> (general announcements = either newsletter or showcase box checked)
>>>
>>>
>>> On the web signup page:
>>>
>>> (all of the above)
>>>
>>> * tell us about yourself
>>> * first name
>>> * last name
>>> * country
>>> * want friends see friends
>>> * public first/last name
>>> * public friend list
>>>
>>>
>>> The only one I'm not sure about is "country", which might be good  
>>> within Etoys also.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sep 8, 2009, at 9:48 AM, Timothy Falconer wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi everyone,
>>>>
>>>> We're debating which squeakland.org account fields to include  
>>>> when people sign up for a showcase account.   Such signup could  
>>>> occur within Etoys itself ("create an account, it's free!") or on  
>>>> the website itself.
>>>>
>>>> Some constraints that have come up in the current conversation:
>>>>
>>>> 1) we want to limit the fields within Etoys because of vertical  
>>>> space limitations in the dialog box
>>>>
>>>> 2) we want to limit the mandatory fields to allow quicker signup
>>>>
>>>> 3) we want to assure that private information from children  
>>>> remains private (last name, other descriptive stuff, perhaps  
>>>> photos)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Here's the central issue at hand, from my perspective . . .
>>>>
>>>> Signup is the key moment for Squeakland and Etoys from a  
>>>> community-building, user research, and publicity standpoint.
>>>>
>>>> It's the time when we'll get the largest number of people to:
>>>>
>>>> 1. subscribe to our newsletter
>>>>
>>>> 2. tell us about themselves (where they live, how they're using  
>>>> etoys, etc)
>>>>
>>>> 3. allow us to later email them questionnaires or announcements  
>>>> (squeakfest), etc.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The vast majority of people that signup for a showcase account  
>>>> WILL NOT join the forums, or separately subscribe to the  
>>>> newsletter, or visit the chat channel, or join a mailing list.
>>>>
>>>> The people that will do these things should be considered  
>>>> "enthusiasts", and hence, people that we really don't need to  
>>>> convince ("preaching to the choir").
>>>>
>>>> We could allow people to come back to their profile page and add  
>>>> this stuff, but MOST won't.  Only enthusiasts, people we don't  
>>>> need to convince.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Imagine hundreds of people who are mildly curious . . . the  
>>>> signup to check out their daughter's project on the showcase,  
>>>> which is otherwise hidden.   They're intrigued enough to download  
>>>> Etoys.   Like MOST PEOPLE, they go to sleep and forget all about  
>>>> it for months.   Then comes our quarterly newsletter, and they  
>>>> read a cool story about Uruguay.   The open up Etoys again and  
>>>> start playing around again.  Maybe this time they'll stick with it.
>>>>
>>>> This is the essence of publicity and marketing . . . the  
>>>> drumbeat, the heartbeat, of our own activity, reminding people  
>>>> we're still here and doing great stuff.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> So that said, here's the fields we're considering:
>>>>
>>>> * username
>>>> * password (twice)
>>>> * email address
>>>>
>>>> These are the bare minimum, and the only required fields.
>>>>
>>>> More fields:
>>>>
>>>> * first name
>>>> * last name
>>>> * tell us about yourself
>>>>
>>>> These are currently on the newsletter subscribe form.    
>>>> Currently, none of this collected information appears on the  
>>>> website.  We can keep these fields private in account profiles as  
>>>> well, to protect children.  Nearly everyone who signs up for the  
>>>> newsletter writes a very useful description about their location,  
>>>> interest in Etoys, affiliated organization, etc.   We have  
>>>> hundreds of these comments, which is invaluable for our community- 
>>>> building work.    I'm strongly in favor of keeping the "tell us  
>>>> about yourself" field and not showing it unless explicit  
>>>> permission is given.
>>>>
>>>> * checkbox for newsletter
>>>> * checkbox for general announcements
>>>> * checkbox for weekly showcase highlights
>>>>
>>>> We want as many YES's for all three as we can get.   More YESes  
>>>> mean more audience.   People can always opt-out from any mailing,  
>>>> but it's in our best interest to at least ask them for a YES.
>>>>
>>>> To keep the in-Etoys box short, we could leave these out, but the  
>>>> question remains . . . what's the default?   If all NO's, then we  
>>>> lose a major source of people who would otherwise have said YES.
>>>>
>>>> (I know that most of us have grown accustomed to always saying NO  
>>>> to such forms, but in our case, with our worldwide enthusiastic  
>>>> audience, it's more likely people will say yes, than no.)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Other fields we could add by flipping a switch:
>>>>
>>>> * organization
>>>> * address
>>>> * address_two
>>>> * city
>>>> * state
>>>> * zip/postal code
>>>> * country
>>>> * time zone
>>>> * home phone
>>>> * work phone
>>>> * want my friends to see my friends
>>>> * show my first/last name to public
>>>> * show my friend list to public
>>>> * photo/avatar
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The address fields were used for squeakfest registration, but  
>>>> likely shouldn't appear in showcase accounts, except perhaps for  
>>>> country.   Likewise with the phones . . . we shouldn't ask.
>>>>
>>>> The last three are things we could add to the profile, defaulting  
>>>> to the most private settings.   The underlying software has much  
>>>> of the functionality of sites like Facebook, etc.   My current  
>>>> plan is to allow people and groups to "friend" other people,  
>>>> which will allow them to see their private Etoys projects.  Such  
>>>> a thing happens when you "tell a friend" and include a message  
>>>> that's email to someone, which is a great way to build community.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Lastly, we have full questionnaire support as well, so we can add  
>>>> any questions we want, though only to the web profile.   Again,  
>>>> most people won't go back to fill out their profile, but we *can*  
>>>> send an announcement saying "Tell us more about yourself, fill  
>>>> out this quick questionnaire", but only if someone has said YES  
>>>> to general announcements.
>>>>
>>>> Anyway, let me know what you think about all this.  We want this  
>>>> to be a community conversation.
>>>>
>>>> Take care,
>>>> TIm
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> squeakland mailing list
>>>> squeakland at squeakland.org
>>>> http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland
>>>
>>
>
> --
> Timothy Falconer
> Waveplace Foundation
> http://waveplace.com
> 610-797-3100
>
>
>
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