Why do some apps ask for my age?

Childnet, a partner in the UK Safer Internet Centre, look at age restriction, specifically why some apps may ask for your age or date of birth.

Every day, our Education Team are in schools across the country talking to children, young people, teachers and parents about their experiences online and how they can stay safe on the internet.

In this series of blogs we look to answer some of the most frequently asked questions from these sessions. 

Why do some apps ask for my age?

There are a number of different types of websites or apps that may ask you to confirm your age before you start using them, these include:

• Social media
• Games
• Dating websites or apps
• Gambling websites or apps

Why do they ask for my age?

Some apps are designed for older people and adults, this can be due to the content on the app, the data that is stored on the users, or could be due to the aim of the app (for example dating apps).

The reason most social media services use an age limit of 13 or over is in part because of a law in the USA. The COPPA law or Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act states that any organisations or people operating online services (including social media services) are not allowed to collect the personal information of anyone under the age of 13 without parental permission.

To avoid the necessity of obtaining parental permission for any user under the age of 13, most services have instead chosen to place an age restriction of 13 to their services. They write this rule into their Terms and Conditions – which users must agree to when they initially sign up and some services may ask users to declare their age during sign up. These sites will delete accounts created by someone under the age of 13 in order to both protect the user and to protect themselves from breaking the law stated in COPPA

You can read more details about the age Restrictions on Social Media Services on our blog https://www.childnet.com/blog/age-restrictions-on-social-media-services

But what if I lie about my age?

Although it can feel like a long wait to be the right age to use some service, it is never a good choice to lie about your age in order to create an account. There are a number of reasons for this:

• Extra protection and privacy settings that apply to under 18 can be lost, whether immediately if you put an age that is over 18 or early than expected if you put an younger age that will turn 18 even when you are old enough to use the site
• You can lose your account on a lot of services if it is discovered that you are younger than the age you say you are. Some services even stop you making an account on a future date, even if you are then the right age, if they discover you having an account underage.
• You may see something unsuitable for your age. Some apps have a minimum age due to the content that is on them, this could be violent or upsetting, and by putting a false age you could be exposed to something that you do not want to see.

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Government announces new UK Council to improve Online Safety

The UK Government has announced it is expanding the scope of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) to help improve online safety for everyone.

Guided by the Internet Safety Strategy, the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) will be renamed as the UK Council for Internet Safety (UKCIS), and will work to improve online safety for everyone in the UK.

The new Council will also have specific objectives reflecting children and young people’s special needs for care and protection, and will build on the pioneering work of UKCCIS in this area. 

Application for UKCIS

The government has opened up the application process to appoint the most experienced and committed organisations and individuals onto the council’s executive board to improve online safety all.

The council will unite more than 200 organisations that represent law enforcement, academia, government, regulators, industry, and charities.

The council will prioritise the following areas to improve online safety for all:

• Cyberbullying and sexual exploitation
• Radicalisation and extremism
• Violence against women and girls
• Hate crime and hate speech
• Forms of discrimination against groups protected under the Equality Act

Margot James, Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries said:

“Only through collaborative action will the UK be the safest place to be online. By bringing together key stakeholders, from the tech giants to the third sector, UKCIS will be the cornerstone of this effort; driving the development of technical solutions and equipping UK citizens to tackle online harms.”

David Wright, Director of the UK Safer Internet Centre at SWGfL, said:

“To build a safer internet, we need to work across sectors and disciplines, making sure we learn from the experiences of a wide variety of citizens.

“We welcome the new opportunities provided by the UK Council for Internet Safety, and look forward to working closely with the new Council”.

The proposal for the council was outlined in the government’s Internet Safety Strategy Green Paper in October 2017.

The application process is now open and is expected at 1pm on 3 September 2018.

UKCISS

internet safety strategy

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Questions on Instagram: looking at the latest feature

Recently Instagram introduced ‘Questions’ - the latest feature onto the photo sharing app. Users are now able to invite their followers to ask them questions, which they can then publicly answer. In this blog we look at this feature, and the things to be aware of whilst using Instagram Questions.

What are Instagram stories?

Stories are a feature on Instagram where users can add an image or video to their ‘story’ which their followers can then view. Stories are different from normal Instagram posts as they can only be viewed for 24 hours before they disappear.

What are questions on Instagram?                                                                                                    

Questions can be added once you have taken a photo or video that you want to share on your story. This is done by selecting the poll sticker from the stickers tab  .

You can then position the questions sticker onto your story and invite your followers to ask you a question.

Your followers ask you a question by typing into the answer box in your sticker, and then sending this to you to answer.

To see the questions you have been asked, swipe up to open the viewers list for that part of your story.

Are the questions anonymous?

There has been some confusion recently about whether the question you ask on Instagram stories are anonymous.

Instagram questions are not anonymous, the person who you sent the question to will know that it is you who asked them. However, if the person you’re sending a question to decides to share your question publicly, your username will be removed.  

Remember that anonymous or not there is a real person behind the Instagram account that you are asking questions to. It’s important to act respectfully and kindly on this service and any other question platform you use.

Who can see my answers?

You can choose how you answer the questions you have been asked. When you click to reply to a question you are taken to a camera screen, where you can take a picture that will be the background to your answer. Once you have typed your reply to the question, you can choose whether to answer privately or publicly.

• Privately: you can choose to send your answer directly to the person who asked you in a private message
• Publicly: you can choose to post your answer onto your story so that all of your followers can see it. It’s worth noting that if you have a public account anyone who views your story will be able to view your answer.

You can also choose not to answer any questions you have been asked. You can delete any questions in the question viewer. If anyone asks you a question that is inappropriate or makes you feel uncomfortable you can always go and speak to an adult you trust, and report or block the user.

Things to remember

Whilst these questions can be used positively to find out more about your friends, there is potential for this feature to be misused. There have been reports of people using the feature to ask upsetting or insulting questions, especially if they think they are under an anonymous guise.

Remember that whoever you are asking questions of is a real person. Before you send a negative or mean comment, think about the effect that receiving this will have on a person.

Our advice

• Think about how your question will make someone feel
• Remember that they will be able to see what you post. If your question will hurt someone’s feelings it’s better not to ask it
• Report inappropriate questions
• If you see a story or question that you think breaks Instagram’s terms of service you can report it to Instagram.
• Speak to someone you trust
• Speak to a parent, carer or teacher if you are upset or concerned about any question you have been asked. You can also contact Childline by calling 0800 1111

Read more about Instagram on our blog

• Privacy settings on Instagram – what do they mean?
• What happens if I unfollow someone on Instagram?
• Polls and voting in Instagram stories
• How to spot advertising on Instagram
• Instagram introduces new comment moderation tools
• New Instagram tool helps users to look out for their friends
• More control over your Instagram profile

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More parents worry about bad language online than grooming or child sexual exploitation

A new Mumsnet and Gransnet survey for the Internet Watch Foundation (a partner in the UK Safer Internet Centre) has uncovered the top concerns of parents and grandparents when it comes to children’s internet use, and lays out in detail how families in the UK approach concerns about children’s online safety, from aggressive trolling to child sexual exploitation.

When asked what worried or concerned them about internet use when it came to their own child, 78% of parents cited ‘being exposed to sexual imagery or pornography’, 75% cited ‘unpleasant or aggressive people, trolls and bad language’, 76% cited ‘bullying’, and 73% cited ‘violent imagery’. These concerns ranked above ‘grooming’ (cited by 69%) and ‘child sexual exploitation via video or photographs’ (61%).

The survey was commissioned ahead of the school summer holidays to raise awareness of child online safety. An Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) report from May 2018 highlighted the dangers of child sexual exploitation via livestreaming apps and described how legitimate internet platforms could be abused by offenders intent on contacting children. Parents and carers were warned that this could happen to any child who has access to livestreaming technology, so they should remain vigilant and know what technology their children are using.

Yet 16% of carers for under-fours and 28% of carers for four-to-six year olds surveyed by Mumsnet say the child they look after has used online video streaming without adult supervision - despite 81% of carers overall saying they classify video streaming without adult supervision as ‘risky’ or ‘extremely risky’.

One in five carers (22%) say the child they look after regularly or always uses the internet without adult supervision, including 7% of parents and grandparents caring for a child under four, 16% of carers for children aged four to six, and rising to 68% of carers for children aged between 13 and 18.

The survey indicates that carers are more comfortable talking to children about the risks of social networks and online gameplay than they are talking about video livestreaming - an online phenomenon that has only recently become widely popular in children’s apps and games. Most respondents (52%) say they have talked to their children about how to stay safe when playing online games with live chat, and 46% have spoken to their children about staying safe on social networks, but only one-third (34%) have spoken to their children about staying safe while using webcams and livestreaming.

Mumsnet founder Justine Roberts said:

“As the summer holidays get underway, the truth is that unsupervised internet use by children is as unremarkable as unsupervised CBeebies watching; for many parents it’s the only way we can get anything done between the end of July and the beginning of September. It’s clear, though, that parents need more information about the risks of livestreaming, and guidance on how to address the issue with their children. Our survey shows that carers worry about almost every aspect of online activity which perhaps inhibits them from identifying and dealing confidently with the most serious threats.’

Susie Hargreaves OBE, CEO of IWF and a Director of the UK Safer Internet Centre, said:

“Our report in May highlighted the need to raise awareness about online safety guidance for children, particularly where livestreaming apps are involved.

“The internet has great educational benefits for children, but like any technological tool it can be abused by offenders intent on harming children. Our role, as part of the UK Safer Internet Centre, is to help parents, carers and children stay safe online and just before the school summer holidays is the perfect time to share that message.”

abuse

grooming

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Staying safe online in the summer holidays – advice for parents and carers

Children and young people across the UK are getting ready to have more free time to spend with friends and family as the summer holidays get into full swing.

For many young people this time will be spent using the internet to keep in touch with school friends, catch up with the latest apps and online trends, and play their favourite games.

In this blog we look at the ways in which parents and carers can help keep their children safe as they start to spend more time online.

Sit down together

The summer holidays are a great chance to sit down with your children and find out about the things they like to do online. Together you can visit their favourite sites and join in with their favourite games. This is a great way to stay up to date with their online lives and show them that you’re interested in what they are doing.

The holidays are also a good opportunity to have positive conversations about the internet, so if something ever does upset your child online they would feel more confident in confiding in you.  Sometimes young people may find it difficult, or may not want to speak to an adult about their online lives. It’s important to reassure them that no matter what the issue may be, you are there to listen without judgement, and help them without confiscating their devices or punishing them.

Our conversation starters are a great tool to help encourage an open and honest dialogue with your child.   

Become an expert

Although it can sometimes feel like young people are the experts when it comes to different apps and games, it’s important to remember that as an adult you are the expert in keeping them safe.

To learn more about the apps, games and services children are using you can spend some time on them, familiarise yourself with their reporting and blocking features and ensure that you have the knowledge to be able to help them if they face a problem over the summer holidays or in the future.

Our recent blog for parents and carers ‘but everyone else is playing it!’ looks at how to decide what games and apps are suitable for children and young people.

Find fun things to do together online

As you and your children will be spending more time together, why not find some fun and engaging ways to use technology and talk about keeping safe:

• Read Digiduck’s Big Decision with your children aged 3 – 7, this story follows the lovable Digiduck as he makes some tough decision about how to be a good friend online
• Have an adventure with Kara, Winston and the SMART Crew as they navigate the online world, and help them to make SMART online decisions
• Watch the Childnet Film Competition winning films, these have been made by young people across the country and look at issues such as digital footprints, positive comments and the ways in which you can connect respect.
• Spend some time on BBC Own It: the website for 7-11 year olds has real-life stories, advice from experts, fun quizzes, and videos with CBBC presenters, celebs, and star vloggers
• Get creative: Look up recipes and ways to be creative online together and replicate this offline
• Create your own vlogs or bogs to chronicle the fun things that you did over summer 2018!

Take time to do a privacy check up

During the summer holidays, young people may want to keep in touch with their friends through social networking sites or games. It’s a good time to ask them about what sites they use, and do a privacy check-up.

Encourage them to use the privacy tools on the services they use, so that the content they post is only available to people they know and trust in real life.

To help set these up, the UK Safer Internet Centre has a guide to the privacy settings of different sites .  You can also download the UK Safer Internet Centre's safety checklists for popular sites such as Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook.  

Have a conversation about sharing holiday pictures

Some children may want to share photos and videos online of what they are getting up to in their summer holidays. Talk to them about what types of photos are appropriate to share, and who they are okay to share with. Photos can hold clues that give away personal information. For example, when sharing a selfie, are there any landmarks or street signs that give away your location?

This is true for photos you might share of your children too! It’s always worth asking children if they are happy with an image you want to share online. We have written some guidance for parents looking at ‘sharenting’ and the impact of sharing online.

Make a family agreement

A family agreement is a great way to start a conversation with your whole family about how you all use the internet and discuss together how to behave in a positive way when online at home, at school or at a friend’s house. 

The agreement involves generating promises, these are positive statements about how your family want to look after each other online and how you should treat others online. The summer can be one of the best times to sit down as a family and agree these promises together. We have created some handy guidance to help you put the family agreement into practice.

And most importantly: enjoy the summer holidays!

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From Gaming to Safeguarding concerns: An update from the Professionals Online Safety Helpline (April – June 2018)

The Professionals Online Safety Helpline provides free support to members of the children’s workforce in the UK with an online safety concern. In this blog Kat Tremlett, Helpline Practitioner, offers an insight into the type of cases the helpline has been dealing with over the last 3 months.

During the second quarter of 2018, the POSH helpline has seen nearly 500 contacts. The top reasons for contacting the helpline were:

• Online Reputation issues (26% of all contacts),
• Potentially Harmful Content (17% of all contacts),
• Cyber-Bullying (14% of all contacts) and
• Media Literacy / Online Safety education (13% of all contacts).

Online Games

A large portion of the media literacy and potentially harmful content cases during this quarter have been regarding well-intentioned safeguarding messages sent out from various professionals to organisations supporting children warning them about the risk of harmful content in certain games.

Often in these instances, professionals contact us to find out whether the concerns are credible. Sometimes they are, sometimes not so much, but our advice in such instances remains the same; that information shouldn’t be circulated broadly, rather on a “need to know” basis. This way, young people who don’t already know about the harmful content are not attracted to it unnecessarily.

Safeguarding Young People Online

Another common trend regards media literacy cases over the last 3 months has been about online safety organisations contacting schools claiming to have witnessed their pupils engaging in risky behaviour on social media platforms. These organisations claim to be warning schools so that they can address the behaviour. However they often seek confirmation of the young person’s indentity and offer a training package to the school to help them address online safety concerns.

The ethical implications of how these organisations obtain information about the pupils is questionable, and we would advise not corresponding with any organisation that contacts a school in this way.

One of our helpline practitioners has written a blog about the issue which has more practical advice.
If you are looking to arrange online safety training for your school, make sure it is from a reliable source. UKCCIS has published this guidance for education settings for Using External Visitors to Support Online Safety Education.

SWGfL delivers training as part of its work as a partner in the UK Safer Internet Centre, and is a trusted training provider with a wealth of experience in the field of online safety.  You can find out more about how to book a UKSIC training session here.

Hacked Accounts

We have also received a handful of cases about young people having their social media accounts hacked. These are generally where a password has been shared within a friendship group and peers have logged in and posted nasty content for a laugh. While we will always help to eradicate bullying behaviour, in most of these circumstances, we would advise following the ‘hacked account’ reporting route on the social media platform in the first instance.

If you’re a member of the children’s’ workforce requiring assistance with an online safety concern, please contact the Professionals Online Safety Helpline for further advice:

Email: helpline@saferinternet.org.uk  Telephone: 0344 3814 772

harmful content

gaming

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IWF scoops 20th Anniversary ISPA Award

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a partner in the UK Safer Internet Centre, has won the 20th Anniversary Award 2018 in the UK ISP Internet Industry Awards for its groundbreaking work removing child sexual abuse imagery from the internet.

The UK Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA), which hosted the awards ceremony on Thursday 12th July, chose the IWF as its worthy winner of the prestigious prize, which is one of three new awards added for 2018.

On its 20th anniversary in 2016, the IWF proudly celebrated having reduced the UK’s hosting of child sexual abuse imagery from 18% in 1996, to less than 1% today. This was done through its fundamental services to the internet industry, including its URL List and Keywords List.

The UK Safer Internet Centre, of which the IWF is a partner with Childnet International and SWGfL (South West Grid for Learning), was also selected as a finalist in the Best Project or Partnership category, which is another new award for 2018.

Susie Hargreaves OBE, IWF CEO and UKSIC Director, said:

“I’m absolutely thrilled to hear that the IWF has won this ISPA Award. We know that our Hotline Analysts are world class and have worked incredibly hard over the past 20 years.

“When we started out, 18% of online child sexual abuse was hosted in the UK. Today that figure is less than 1%.

"To have this success recognised by the internet industry is something which means a great deal to us. Thank you.”

The finalists for 2018 were scrutinised by an “independent panel of industry experts,” while broadband ISPs, website hosts and VoIP providers underwent technical testing.

The winners were announced during the awards ceremony at the Midland Hotel in Manchester.

Find our more about the ISPA Awards

*20th Anniversary Award 2018 is a trade mark of the Internet Services Providers’ Association, used under licence”.

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