New campaign raises child safety concerns over Google's "Street View"

Washington, DC - Today Stop Child Predators launched a public education campaign called Stop Internet Predators designed to increase awareness of emerging Internet technologies that can endanger our children's safety and privacy.

The campaign seeks to educate parents and communities on emerging online threats and empower them with the tools and resources to act to protect their children's safety and privacy.

"By increasing awareness, Stop Internet Predators seeks to limit the potential for child predators to abuse online technologies to prey on children," said Stacie Rumenap, Executive Director of Stop Child Predators.

A special focus of the campaign is devoted to a particularly alarming technology provided by Google maps. As part of the launch, Ms. Rumenap is featured in a video on www.StopInternetPredators.org, which shows how the Google "Street View" application allows Internet users to view high resolution pictures of homes, schools, and in some cases, children playing outside, simply by typing in a local address.

"This technology shows anyone in the world our communities, and exposes not only the routes from the bus stops to homes, but our children, without ever stepping foot in our neighborhoods," said Ms. Rumenap.

This new initiative has already attracted supporting organizations, including Community VOICES, Ryan United, and others.

"After going on Street View, I saw a picture of my neighbor's child playing basketball in his driveway," said Laurie Myers, Community VOICES President. "As the Internet evolves the way in which predators prey on children evolves with it. We as parents owe it to our children to educate ourselves on the potential dangers by being proactive."

Stop Internet Predators invites you to join a media teleconference on Wednesday at 2pm ET, where you will hear from coalition members listed in this release and others. For more information on the call, please email media@StopInternetPredators.org.

Stop Internet Predators urges parents and communities to not passively accept new technologies as non-threatening, rather educate themselves on their implications and restriction options. We should act on behalf of our children and safeguard their privacy and safety.

For more information about the campaign please visit www.StopInternetPredators.org.

About Stop Child Predators
Stop Child Predators brings together a team of policy experts, law enforcement officers, community leaders, and parents that persuade lawmakers and the public to enact policies that protect America's children from sexual predators. Stop Child Predators is the only national organization that leads campaigns in every state to advocate legislation that prevents the sexual exploitation of children and protects the rights of child victims.