During some down time from collecting and examining your email and browsing history, eavesdropping on foreign leaders and spending your tax dollars helping corporations spy for profit, the NSA put together a website just for kids.
The turtle wearing a hat backward, baggy jeans and purple sunglasses looks just like other cartoon characters that marketers use to make products like cereal and toys appealing to children.
But the reptile, known as T. Top, who says creating and breaking codes is really “kewl,” is pushing something far weightier: the benefits of the National Security Agency.
The site, called "Crypto-kids" has some sober advice for kids on its Home page (which no doubt registers you in a database just for visiting).
Here's Cyber Twin Cyndi, warning you to be discreet with your passwords(because you never know who could read your stuff!):
Keep your passwords secret--if you share them with someone who knows how many other people they could tell?
Here's Cyber Twin Cy, giving you the big overview:
The Internet is a very open place, which is part of what makes it great, but there are people out there who don't have your best interests in mind...
And finally, T. Top Turtle, emphasizing that it's OK to spy on foreign leaders as long as you don't let them spy on you:
“In the world of diplomacy, knowing what your enemy is planning helps you to prepare,” the turtle says. “But it is also important that your enemies do not know what you have planned."
The website, which provides games and opportunities for children to develop secret codes, grew out of an Executive Order from President Clinton that called on Federal agencies to "develop ways to educate children about government," according to an NSA spokesperson. It also provides kids
information on careers at the NSA.:
‘It is never too early to start thinking about what you want to do when you grow up,’ the site reminds youngsters.
Civil libertarians, not surprisingly, said the website was propaganda. Experts on early childhood education and marketing to children said the tactics used by the N.S.A. were similar to the way McDonald’s puts toys in its Happy Meals.
“This is the N.S.A. putting on its best face and the way it wants to present itself without anyone else providing their opinions or making noise — and for children, it may make them feel good about what the N.S.A. does,” said Nina Huntemann, a professor at Suffolk University who studies the social impact of new media.
Ms Huntemann acknowledges that the NSA website will probably not draw an overwhelming number of children to it. But for those who do visit, they would do well to heed the advice of Cyber Twin Cy for reasons probably not intended by his creators.
Cy advise children to:
"[S]top and think before sharing private information, especially on social networking websites.”
Because you never know when it will come back to you.