Mobile & Internet security tips!
At Sure
we’re doing our part to keep you safe when you are using your
mobile ‘phone or using our products to go on the internet. Across
the Channel Islands we’ve done a number of initiatives, over
several years, to promote safety.
These initiatives include: school talks, Guernsey’s Safety
Calling programme and, most recently, the Jersey ‘In their own
words’ campaign where primary school children designed a poster for
schools and secondary school students starred in an advert
broadcast on Channel Television (see below).
Surf Safely
Sure provides access to the whole World Wide
Web through a mobile phone or broadband. If you are a parent we
suggest you discuss with your child the sort of content which you’d
be happy for them to access and the kinds of things that they
should avoid.
If you want to stop your children from
accessing high speed mobile internet, please telephone our Contact
Centre or pop into any Sure store.
We regularly check searches made through our
Sure Live! Mobile internet homepage and will report any possibly
criminal activity to the police.
Search Safely
Instead of using Google, Yahoo or Bing you
might want to use a child-friendly search engine such as
www.kidsclick.org, www.yahooligans.com or www.askkids.com.
Download and install Hector the Protector from
www.thinkuknow.com to help protect young children from websites
that could upset them.
Be cautious making friends online
It’s great to meet new friends from across the
planet, but not everyone has good intentions.
Don’t give out your mobile number,
messenger ID, photo, email address, physical address and especially
debit and credit card details over text or whilst chatting
online.
If your online friend wants to become an
offline friend, neither children nor adults should meet
them alone. Sadly, some people active online
cannot be trusted. Arrange to meet in a very
public place and take a friend or family member along for
support. If you are a young person and feel uncomfortable
about an online relationship then tell somebody about it: talk to a
responsible family member or you can report online child
abuse. If you are a parent, we encourage you to talk to
your child about chat rooms so that they understand that not all
chat rooms are appropriate environments for young people.
Anything that you post online could be there
for an indefinite amount of time and may become accessible for
anyone. That is why you must think carefully about what you are
posting, whether it is a message on MSN or Facebook, or a picture
on Flickr. Your pictures could be downloaded and changed to
make them embarrassing – or worse – so make sure that your pictures
can only be seen by people who you want to see them. Always make
sure that you have the permission of friends if you are posting
pictures of them online.
Know What You’re Downloading!
Everybody needs to be careful when downloading things from the
internet because files may contain viruses or other unexpected
things. Young children must be especially careful and should ask
their parents before downloading anything.
When accessing the internet on a mobile, be aware that some
sites will have content which is not suitable for under-18s. Our
Sure Live! mobile internet portal offers a range of games,
ringtones and wallpapers that are suitable for all ages.
If you are a parent, we encourage you to talk to your
child about the content they have downloaded from the Internet
using a computer or a mobile ‘phone.
Don’t respond to
bullyingBullying can happen to all sorts of people at all stages of
life. If you receive unpleasant calls, texts, multi media messages
or emails through a mobile phone the best advice is
not to respond.
If the bullying is persistent, tell a parent,
school teacher, manager or the police. Don’t delete nasty messages
– they will be needed as evidence. In extreme cases we can
change your number if you call our Contact Centre.
Keep your identity secure
To avoid nuisance calls and bullying, be
careful who has
your number. In addition,
don’t leave your name on
your voicemail as it confirms your identity.
When there is a handset about don’t do anything which you’d be
embarrassed or humiliated to see recorded and shown to
others.
To reduce the threat of misuse, use your handset’s locking
mechanism, change it from the default setting (often 0000) and
don’t share the new code. You should also record the phone’s unique
IMEI number (you can obtain this 15 digit code by typing *#06# into
your mobile phone). You can also mark your phone with your post
code to help police identify it if found.
When out and about, be sensible about using your phone. Your
handset is a valuable item, so don’t flash it around in an unsecure
environment or leave it in an unlocked car – keep it on your person
and out of sight.
If your phone is lost or stolen call the Police and Sure immediately. We are able to blacklist your
phone so it cannot be used on our network and then can activate the
handset again if it is recovered. The police can request that other
island operators block the handset as well. When calling us our
staff will need to establish that you are the owner of the phone –
we can only act on the request of the owner or police.
For extra security, insure your handset. If it is stolen, reporting
it to the police will help with the claim.
Respect yourself when a phone’s about
When there is a handset about don’t do anything
which you’d be embarrassed or humiliated to see recorded and shown
to others.
Think very carefully about sending a photo or
video of yourself to someone else – it could fall into the wrong
hands. Turn off Bluetooth on your phone if you don’t want to share
content with strangers. When online, don’t post or do anything that
you wouldn’t want your parents, teachers or friends to know
about.
Keep your handset secure
Don’t leave your mobile handset lying
around. A handset is a valuable item which should be kept
at all times in a secure place. Your handset could get stolen, used
to access stored information or to contact someone in your
name.
To reduce the threat of misuse, use
your handset’s locking mechanism, change it from the
default setting (often 0000) and don’t share the new code.
You should also record the phone’s unique IMEI number (you can
obtain this 15 digit code by typing *#06# into your mobile phone).
You can also mark your phone with your post code to help
police identify it if found.
When out and about, be sensible about using
your phone. Your handset is a valuable item, so don’t flash
it around in an insecure environment – keep it on your
person and out of sight.
If your phone is lost or stolen then
call the Police and Sure immediately. We are able to blacklist your
phone so it cannot be used on our network and then can
activate the handset again if it is recovered. The police can
request that other island operators block the handset as well. When
you call us our staff will need to establish that you are
the owner of the phone – we can only act on the request of
the owner or police.
For extra security, insure your
handset. If it is stolen, reporting it to the police will
help with the claim.
Be careful browsing
mobile internet
Sure’s high speed mobile internet provides access to the whole
world wide web through a mobile phone. If you are a parent we
suggest you discuss with your child the sort of content which you’d
be unhappy for them to access.
If you want to stop a minor from accessing high speed mobile
internet, please telephone our Contact Centre or pop into any Sure
store.
We regularly check searches made through our Sure Live! mobile
internet homepage and will report any possibly criminal activity to
the police.
Always read the small
print
Before you sign up for premium content services, ensure you know
what is involved –
charges can mount up very
quickly. Children should always
seek the
permission of an adult before accessing premium rate
content on a landline, mobile phone or via a PC.
STOP premium rate services
If you have signed up to a premium rate subscription (for example
to a mobile ringtone provider) and
no longer want to
receive that service, try texting STOP to the sender. This
will stop the service if that short code is registered on our
system.
Grumble
text has more information about how to deal with
unwanted premium rate services.
LinksStoptextbully – tips to make a
text bully stop
Cyberbullying – advice
about dealing with bullies using technology such as mobiles and the
internet
CEOP -
Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre
Thinkuknow – great
sites for children of different ages, parents and teachers with
information about online culture and safety
Childline – anti-bullying and child
abuse charity (also call 0800 1111)
Crimestoppers – call 0800
555 111 if you have information about stolen mobile phones or any
other crimes. You could receive a reward
SaferInternet – Very useful
European website that has links on the right of the page to
information for children and parents: some of the information is
multi-lingual.
GetNetWise – video tutorials
explaining how to do things that will help you to keep safe
online
KidSmart – colourful and inviting
e-safety website that is aimed at children
SafeKids
– a useful website that gives information about surveys and tools
to help keep children safe online: this is a good website to use to
find out what is going on in the world of online child safety
Illegal
content
Our concern is with protecting Sure customers from accidentally
viewing content which may upset and/or offend them. In addition
please note that it is a criminal offence to view illegal content.
Sure Broadband neither monitors, nor censors users wishing to view
adult content. We will only block illegal sites and will not add
any other content filters onto our service.
Material for teachers/ Youth workers
