Internet Safety

The Internet is a wonderful thing ... isn't it?

You can find out about almost anything you can think of, from the eating habits of an Ant to the latest news on your favourite band. It can help with research, ideas and keep you up to date with the latest, breaking news from around the World.

The Internet is a great tool. But it can also be used for the wrong reasons. If used with out any thought of what may happen, you may find that that harmless joke you've just played on someone, suddenly becomes a very serious matter ...

Community sites / Blogs have become very popular over the last couple of years. There are many springing up all over the Internet, Bebo, MySpace, Facebook and Friendster. All of them offer a variety of free services for anyone with an Internet connection. You can upload pictures, music and write about your latest interests and hobbies.

It all seems like a great way to keep in touch with friends and make new friends on the way. However, just like in real life, things aren't always as simple as they first seem.

  www.parentscentre.gov.uk

Would you ... ?

Imagine this, you have two diaries, one with all your eveyday events in, like friends birthdays and maybe notes about homework or exam times etc ... Your other diary is your own personal diary.

Question:
Would you leave your personal diary open on your desk at school or home for everyone to read?

Most probably not. They're your personal thoughts and feelings and you may not want some people to know about them. You've made a choice, to keep certain bits of information to yourself.

You should make the same choice when you give out information on your profile. Do you really want everyone in the World to know everything about you? It may seem like you've become a movie star, so many people knowing all these things about you. But as you well know, many movie stars have to live their lives in secret because of all the attention. They often have to hire bodyguards to protect them from people who want to hurt them; all because of their popularity.

Most sites will give advice on what to put on your profile and what not to put on you profile. The advice is there for your safety and nothing else. It's not there to spoil your fun, it's not there to tell you how to live your life. It's there to protect you from other people who may use your information against you.

 

---

Take some easy safety steps

The following tips are basic guidelines for blogging.

• Never offer any personal information, including your last name, contact information, home address, phone numbers, school's name, e-mail address, last names of friends or relatives, instant-messaging names, age or birth date.
• Never post revealing pictures of yourself or anyone else. Be sure any images you post do not disclose any of the previously mentioned information. Always remember to look at the background of a picture, too.
  

  Note:
  posting pictures of minors, anyone under the age of 18, that are classed as indecent or sexual in nature is seen as a criminal offence under the following acts:
  - Section 45 of the Sex Offences Act 2003
  - Protection of Children Act 1978.
  That also includes posting pictures of yourself if you are under the age of 18

    www.iwf.org.uk

• Assume what you publish on the web is permanent. Anyone on the Internet can easily print out a blog or save it to a computer.
• Use blogging provider sites with clearly stated terms of use. Make sure they can protect the actual blogs, not just the user accounts, with password protection.
• Avoid trying to "outdo" or compete with other bloggers.
• Keep blogs positive and don't use them for slander or to attack others.

Useful links

  www.parentscentre.gov.uk
  www.iwf.org.uk
  www.microsoft.com - blogs
  www.childnet-int.org
  www.bbc.co.uk - blogs
  www.bbc.co.uk - chat rooms
  www.wiredsafety.org
  www.microsoft.com - netiquette