Bebo, Myspace Pass EU Safety Tests for Minors

Only two social networking sites - Bebo and Myspace - have passed EU privacy protection tests for minors, said the European Commission in a statement on its Digital Agenda.

Bebo and Myspace protect minors' profiles by default, so that only their approved list of contacts can see their personal information.

Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission for the Digital Agenda said: “I am disappointed that most social networking sites are failing to ensure that minors' profiles are accessible only to their approved contacts by default. I will be urging them to make a clear commitment to remedy this in a revised version of the self-regulatory framework we are currently discussing."

Kids don't understand the consequences of giving too much information away online, and could face cyber-bullying and sexual abuse, he said.

The tests, carried out between December 2010 and January 2011, looked at 14 websites: Arto, Bebo, Facebook, Giovani.it, Hyves, Myspace, Nasza-klaza.pl, Netlog, One.lt, Rate.ee, SchülerVZ, IRC Galleria, Tuenti and Zap.lu. Another 9 sites will be tested later this year.

Two-thirds of the EU's teenagers use social networking tools, according to the survey.