Author Archives: John Carr

About John Carr

John Carr is one of the world's leading authorities on children's and young people's use of digital technologies. He is Senior Technical Adviser to Bangkok-based global NGO ECPAT International, Technical Adviser to the European NGO Alliance for Child Safety Online, which is administered by Save the Children Italy and an Advisory Council Member of Beyond Borders (Canada). Amongst other things John is or has been an Adviser to the United Nations, ITU, the European Union, the Council of Europe and European Union Agency for Network and Information Security and is a former Board Member of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety. He is Secretary of the UK's Children's Charities' Coalition on Internet Safety. John has advised many of the world's largest internet companies on online child safety. In June, 2012, John was appointed a Visiting Senior Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science. More: http://johncarrcv.blogspot.com

Age verification on the move. Porn is the target

Posted on August 31, 2021 by John Carr

Yesterday’s Daily Telegraph carried a great piece in which Rachel de Souza, England’s new Children’s Commissioner, makes clear her ambitions for age verification in general but in particular in respect of pornography sites. She obviously believes introducing age verification to … Continue reading →

Posted in Age verification, Default settings, Internet governance, Privacy, Regulation, Self-regulation | Leave a comment

My letter in today’s Financial Times

Posted on August 12, 2021 by John Carr

Today the Financial Times has published a letter by me in which I applaud Apple’s decision concerning its plans to limit the possibility of child sex abuse material being distributed via their devices or network. I also suggest it will … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Bravo Apple

Posted on August 10, 2021 by John Carr

There has been great rejoicing at ECPAT International’s global HQ in Bangkok. Last week the work we have been doing with our partners around strong encryption received an enormous boost when Apple made a hugely important announcement about their plans … Continue reading →

Posted in Apple, Child abuse images, Default settings, Facebook, ICANN, Internet governance, Microsoft, Regulation, Self-regulation | 1 Comment

The importance of Clause 36(3), money and general monitoring

Posted on July 19, 2021 by John Carr

OK. I am going to shout it out loud, or rather I am going to put it in writing, in public, which is sort of the same thing. There is a great deal in the UK’s Online Safety Bill (OSB) … Continue reading →

Posted in Child abuse images, Default settings, E-commerce, Internet governance, Regulation, Self-regulation | Leave a comment

Age verification in the EU moving forward

Posted on July 16, 2021 by John Carr

The Advisory Board of euConsent held its first meeting last week. euConsent aims to deliver a framework of standards which will encourage the development of a pan-European network of providers of online age verification and parental consent mechanisms. Hugely important … Continue reading →

Posted in Age verification, Default settings, E-commerce, Internet governance, Pornography, Privacy, Regulation, Self-regulation | Leave a comment

States, csam and grooming. A proactive future?

Posted on July 2, 2021 by John Carr

The Council of Europe has brought out an extremely useful and timely report. Quoting directly from multiple sources it draws together many of the principal legal instruments which have a bearing on the obligations of states actively to protect children … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Safety by Design takes a big step forward

Posted on June 22, 2021 by John Carr

“Put it out Tuesday. Get it right by version three”. According to Professor Ross Anderson this was the dominant way of thinking in Big Tech long before Mark Zuckerberg’s updated nostrum – “move fast and break things”. Anderson suggests the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

General Comment 25 – an event of global significance

Posted on June 20, 2021 by John Carr

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is widely accepted as the cornerstone or foundational document in respect of children’s rights. Every country in the world bar one has signed and ratified the Convention. The highly regrettable … Continue reading →

Posted in Consent, Default settings, Internet governance, Regulation, Self-regulation | Leave a comment

Shameless self-promotion. By me.

Posted on June 15, 2021 by John Carr

My dad was 13 years old when the Second World War broke out. He was Jewish and lived in Poland. Yet he survived. I have written a book about how he did that. Brought out last year by a small … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Let’s talk about strong encryption. Again.

Posted on June 14, 2021 by John Carr

I hate to be unfair to Facebook (please don’t tell anyone I wrote that) but they are in the major line of fire in the encryption debate only because we know the scale of apparently criminal behaviour taking place on … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment