LinkedIn Becomes FOSI's Latest Connection

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), the nation's leading organization dedicated to educating parents, companies, children, educators and policymakers about Internet safety, announced today that LinkedIn will become its newest member.

LinkedIn, the world's largest professional network, is committed to continually evolving its approach to safety while expanding service to younger demographics.

The announcement comes on the heels LinkedIn's launch of University Pages and its announcement that it intends to make its services available to high school students who are thinking about colleges and career possibilities.

"We look forward to working with LinkedIn to help implement their recent changes aimed at younger users while helping them strengthen their approach to safety and increase trust in their Web site," said Stephen Balkam, CEO of FOSI. "With the growth of social networking, it is important to make sure that we protect all users - both adults and teens alike. LinkedIn is viewed as a valuable business tool and we want to help them maintain their reputation while embracing new audiences that require special online safety considerations."

"Working with FOSI will help us extend to the next generation of professionals the immense benefits of LinkedIn while balancing that with the best online safety practices," said Eric Heath, Director of Legal and Global Privacy at LinkedIn. "With more than 200 million members in more than 200 countries, our goal is to not only make our network safer and more secure, but also to take the best practices of FOSI and apply them on an international level within our entire network."

About FOSI

The Family Online Safety Institute is an international, non-profit organization that works to make the online world safer for kids and their families. FOSI convenes leaders in industry, government and the non-profit sectors to collaborate and innovate new solutions and policies in the field of online safety. Through research, resources, events and special projects, FOSI promotes a culture of responsibility online and encourages a sense of digital citizenship for all. FOSI's membership includes 30 of the leading Internet and telecommunications companies around the world.