WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Today, MANA: A National Latina Organization, with headquarters in Washington, DC, twenty five Chapters nationwide and six affiliates across the nation announced its partnership with Stop Internet Predators, a nation-wide coalition launched to educate parents and communities on emerging online child safety issues and empower them to protect their children’s privacy and safety.
Google’s controversial new application “Street View” provides online users 360 degree street level images of physical addresses. Anyone with an Internet connection can type an address and digitally cruise images of our neighborhoods. Photographs uploaded to the program have captured images of our children on our front yards, boarding the school bus or playing in the local park.
Parents should be aware of new online technologies, their safety implications and restriction options to protect our children’s privacy and overall safety.
“‘Street View’ is especially alarming to me since it allows anyone with an Internet connection to map the most likely route a child walks to school, and the distance between the school bus stop the front door of a home, and even find the location of families’ bedroom windows,” explains Alma Riojas, President and CEO of MANA, A National Latina Organization. “It is imperative to make parents aware of this technology and inform them of how to remove photos of their children if found on the website.”
“I am honored to partner with MANA on this child safety effort,” said Stacie Rumenap, Executive Director of Stop Child Predators. “Their focus on empowering women in the Latina community is exceptional and we are glad they will help us to educate women and families across the country of the threat technologies like Google ‘Street View’ may bring.”
Stop Internet Predators is a project of Stop Child Predators, launched to educate parents and communities on emerging online child safety issues and empower them to protect their children’s privacy and safety. Stop Internet Predators has a special focus on new internet technologies that pose a risk to their children’s safety, such as Google’s Street View. For more information on the campaign, please visit www.StopInternetPredators.org.
About MANA: MANA, A National Latina Organization, is a nonprofit advocacy organization headquartered in Washington, DC. With chapters across the country, it is the oldest national Latina membership organization in the United States. MANA, whose mission is to empower Latinas through leadership development, community service, and advocacy, envisions a national community of informed Latina activists working to improve the quality of life for all Hispanics. MANA also has the only national Latina mentoring program for girls 11 to 18, known as “HERMANITAS(R)”.
