FaceChipz

Parents and Educators

FaceChipz™ has prepared the below information especially for parents. We highly encourage you to familiarize yourself with this important material as well as the Help section of this site. The Internet is a safer place for kids because of the involvement and awareness of parents like you. Having a knowledge and understanding of how FaceChipz and other Internet sites visited by your children is the best way to keep them safe online. Please read on.

What is FaceChipz™?

FaceChipz is an invitation-only social network. It has all the features of a real social network – but with one big difference: kids can ONLY communicate with others they’ve personally invited – NO strangers allowed! No one can arbitrarily contact them. No one can search for them because on FaceChipz there is no search function!

On FaceChipz.com kids interact with their peers, and become "Fans" of certain celebrities, movies, tv shows, products or places. These fan pages are just for viewing and the entities behind each fan page cannot see any users profile or information. Kids connect by either emailing an invitation to a known friend, printing up a coded invitation and physically handing it to a friend, or exchanging coded Facechipz Friendship tokens. Compared to other social sites, this invitation-only networking is what makes FaceChipz unique. Because friendship links are a result of real world relationships, parents are likely to know who their kids are associating with AND who the parents of these kids are. This creates strong accountability and greatly reduces the chances of inappropriate behavior.

At FaceChipz we see ourselves as part of the solution in preparing kids for their inevitable introduction to socializing on the Internet. FaceChipz wants to help kids stay safe, but also enable them to communicate using today’s technology platforms. Our site is one of the first to let kids freely communicate with their friends instead of using pre-programmed “stock” pull-down messaging. If your kids are savvy enough to make appropriate real world friendships, we believe that those relationships will be suitable and appropriate for the digital network they create.

The FaceChipz site has also been technically designed so kids postings (writings and images) cannot be picked up by search engines. Additionally, once your child is ready to advance to a more mature networking service, all of their information can be permanently deleted instead of languishing online.

We’ve taken great care in creating a platform that lets Kids communicate freely with their friends, yet satisfies the privacy concerns of moms and dads. We pledge, as parents ourselves, to continue to maintain and improve these privacy controls.

FaceChipz has only just begun and there are many cool things to come. We appreciate your interest and look forward to entertaining, working and collaborating with you to make FaceChipz the best and SAFEST kids site on the Internet!

FaceChipz™ is a registered trademark of Chipzco, Inc., a California corporation located in the United States of America.

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How FaceChipz Works

First-Time Users:

Parents register their child at FaceChipz.com. The one-time validation consists of a $1 charge to a parent’s credit card.

After that there are NO monthly fees. Parents can also add other kids from their immediate family via the Parental Controls page for no additional charge.

In order to register kids for FaceChipz, it is our policy to obtain verifiable consent from a parent or guardian. We do this in accordance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, "COPPA." FaceChipz verifies adult consent by processing a one dollar ($1) charge to the credit card of a parent or guardian, the proceeds of which are dedicated to cybersafety initiatives.

FaceChipz offers parents the option to register their child for a newsletter. This newsletter contains information about new features on the site and upcoming features and will be sent to users from time to time. Parents, if you would like your child to receive the FaceChipz newsletter, you may choose to enter your childÍs e-mail address at registration. However, childrenÍs e-mail addresses are not required to register on the site and will not be used for any purpose other than sending the FaceChipz Newsletter. If you choose to register to receive the newsletter, you may cancel the receipt of any future newsletters at any time.

Once signed up, kids will discover the site's many cool features including: customizable Profile Pages, message boards, photo uploading, status updates, My Friends, About Me section, and Games. They can even create their own unique homepage where they are able to send messages to friends and exchange comments, post pictures, play games and do other cool stuff.

The best thing about FaceChipz is friends -- and adding them is easy! From the home page, kids can enter their friends name and email (optional) and click "Create Invite". If an email address has been entered, the friend will receive an email from Facechipz, asking to confirm the friendship. Once the child logs onto Facechipz.com and clicks accept from their home page, the two will be linked! If no email address is entered, the system will generate a special code that kids can give their friends to enter to confirm the friendship (these can also be printed out) and simply hand out to friends. In any case, if the invited friend is not yet a member of the FaceChipz community, he or she will have to join FaceChipz with his or her parents' approval.

Parents will appreciate the built-in Parental Controls which enable Mom or Dad to activate or deactivate accounts when they please. This comes in handy when kids neglect to do their chores and has been tested by the founders of FaceChipz with great success!

FaceChipz™ Safety & Privacy Highlights

In addition to being easy and fun to use, FaceChipz offers unparalleled safety and privacy:

  • FaceChipz verifies parental consent, before kids are allowed to use the site.
  • Site users can ONLY communicate with others they’ve personally invited via email, the physical exchange of printed coded invites or FaceChipz friendship tokens.
  • The FaceChipz web platform is designed to prevent kids’ postings (writings and images) from being picked up by search engines.
  • All communications on site are filtered for inappropriate language
  • There are no Search controls, so no one can arbitrarily contact site users.
  • When visiting a friend’s profile, kids can only view the “friend’s friends,” that they have exchanged emails,coded invitations or friendship tokens with.
  • When responding to issues concerning a child’s account, such as if they’ve posted inappropriate content, FaceChipz sends alert messages to both parent and child.
  • A whole section on Kids Internet Safety, written with a youthful slant, addresses many common concerns and provides usage tips and helpful links for tweens.
  • The Children's Advertising Review Unit has certified FaceChipz as being compliant with:

Compliance

FaceChipz is concerned about the privacy of its user-base. We comply with governmental regulations regarding the collection of personal information from kids. CARU, (Children's Advertising Review Unit) Privacy Program has officially certified FaceChipz as being compliant with the United States’ Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”), and the Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. These and other applicable laws have special requirements regarding notification to parents and legal guardians (either of which is referred to as a “parent” throughout this site) of what personal information is being collected from their child and how that information is used and shared. At the moment, FaceChipz is only open to users in the United States and Canada.

Internet Safety Tips for you to pass Along to Your Kids:

  • Make sure your child doesn't spend all of their time on the computer. People, not computers, should be their best friends and companions.
  • Keep the computer in a family room, kitchen or living room, not in your child's bedroom.
  • Learn enough about computers so you can enjoy them together with your kids.
  • Watch your children when they're online and see where they go.
  • Make sure that your children feel comfortable coming to you with questions and don't over react if things go wrong.
  • Encourage discussions between you and your child about what they enjoy online.
  • Teach kids what information they can share with others online and what they can't (like telephone numbers, addresses, their full name and school).
  • Discuss these rules, get your children to agree to adhere to them, and post them near the computer as a reminder.
CyberSafety Tips 4 Parents
  • Remember, no matter how much kids know about technology, you’re still the parent!
  • Have the talk! Discuss cybersafety rules and consequences.
  • Buy, use and regularly update your security software.
  • Get to know their online friends as you do their offline ones.
  • Ask your kids to give you a tour of their Internet – where do they go, what do they do, who do they interact with?
  • Spot check their computers, iPods, cell phones and gaming devices for picture and videos.
  • Trust, but verify! Trusting your child is great. But your job is to check just in case.
  • While you trust your child, you shouldn’t trust the 1 billion others online.
  • Instead of telling them “no” all the time, find websites you can say “yes” to.
  • Limit the amount of time your child spends online to under 2 hours a day.
  • Make sure that your child maintains balance between their online and offline lives.
  • Passwords should be easy to remember, but hard to guess.
  • Reading their profiles is not the same as reading their diary. If others can read it, so can you!

Printable Internet Usage Agreement

Once you understand enough about cyberspace and how your kids surf the Internet, you can set your own rules. These are the basic rules, even though you may want to add some of your own. Some kids like setting the rules out clearly in an agreement. Both parents and children should sign the agreement and post it near the computer to help kids remember how to surf safely.

My Internet Usage Agreement

PDF Download PDF

I want to use our computer and the Internet. I know that there are certain rules about what I should do online. I agree to follow these rules and my parents agree to help me follow these rules:

  • I will not give my name, address, telephone number, school, or my parents' names, address, or telephone number; to anyone I meet on the computer.
  • I understand that some people online pretend to be someone else. Sometimes they pretend to be kids, when they're really grownups. I will tell my parents about people I meet online. I will also tell my parents before I answer any e-mails I get from or send e-mails to new people I meet online.
  • I will not buy or order anything online without asking my parents or give out any credit card information.
  • I will not fill out any form online that asks me for any information about myself or my family without asking my parents first.
  • I will not get into arguments or fights online. If someone tries to start an argument or fight with me, I won't answer him or her and will tell my parents.
  • If I see something I do not like or that I know my parents don't want me to see, I will click on the "back" button or log off.
  • If I see people doing things or saying things to other kids online I know they're not supposed to do or say, I'll tell my parents.
  • I won't keep online secrets from my parents.
  • If someone sends me any pictures or any e-mails using bad language, I will tell my parents.
  • If someone asks me to do something I am not supposed to do, I will tell my parents.
  • I will not call anyone I met online, in person, unless my parents say it's okay.
  • I will never meet in person anyone I met online, unless my parents say it's okay.
  • I will never send anything to anyone I met online, unless my parents say it's okay.
  • If anyone I met online sends me anything, I will tell my parents.
  • I will not use something I found online and pretend it's mine.
  • I won't say bad things about people online, and I will practice good “Netiquette.”
  • I won't use bad language online.
  • I will help teach my parents more about computers and the Internet.
  • I will practice safe computing, and check for viruses whenever I borrow a disk from someone or download something from the Internet.

____________________________

Child

I promise to follow these rules.

____________________________

Parent

I promise to help my child follow these rules and not to over react if my child tells me about bad things in cyberspace.

Parents & Educators Reference Links

Internet safety has become a real concern for families and educators. Children, by nature are innocent and trusting; and it’s these qualities that also make them vulnerable, so adults need to help kids protect themselves, make good decisions, and use the Internet safely. To better help you, we have included a list of organizations that provide information on how to keep children safe while on the internet. (FaceChipz provides this information as a service to its users. We do not control the content referenced in these links nor can we guarantee that they are currently active. You should read them, but ultimately rely on your own judgment regarding how to best supervise the online activities of your kids.)

International Links – Canada:

Privacy Inquiries

FaceChipz is a licensee of Children's Advertising Review Unit. If you believe that FaceChipz has not responded to your inquiry or your inquiry has not been satisfactorily addressed, please contact CARU at: caru@caru.bbb.org.

Safety Concerns

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Secure Transactions on FaceChipz.com

Merchant Services

FaceChipz.com has partnered with Authorize.Net, a leading payment gateway since 1996, to offer safe and secure credit card and electronic check transactions for our customers.

The Authorize.Net Payment Gateway manages the complex routing of sensitive customer information through the credit card and electronic check processing networks (see an online payments diagram). The company adheres to strict industry standards for payment processing, including:

  • 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology for secure Internet Protocol (IP) transactions.

  • Industry leading encryption hardware and software methods and security protocols to protect customer information.

  • Compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard.

ABOUT SSL CERTIFICATES

The FaceChipz website is also protected by a VeriSign SSL Certificate. FaceChipz is one of 90,000 Web sites in 145 countries that display a VeriSign Secured Seal. When you see the VeriSign Secured Seal and verify its authenticity (by clicking on the seal), you can feel confident that your information is protected by VeriSign encryption technology. The VeriSign SSL Certificate enables an encrypted communication channel between your Web browser and the FaceChipz website server so that you can transfer sensitive information securely. When you send sensitive information, like a credit card number or password, encryption keeps it private. To learn more visit Security Sockets Layer (SSL): How It Works

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