Online Safety, Security and Ethics [Knowledge Base Index]

In addition to the part of bridging the digital divide that has to do with giving people tools and training for access, UNITeS believes that there is also a responsibility among ICT volunteers to help build people's capacity to understand the basics of online safety and responsibility.

The Internet has brought many benefits to many people, and the vast majority of people have a positive, safe experience online. Sadly, however, there are some people on the Internet that work to exploit others -- just as there is in the offline world. There are also situations where new users may not understand what is appropriate and what isn't online.

For example:

Many users may not understand how to critically-evaluate an email that promises wealth, or may not understand the potential hazards of sharing information in chat rooms.

There are individuals who attempt to exploit children, women and others through the Internet, particularly through email and chat rooms.

There are programmers who create computer viruses that can be transmitted via e-mail or floppy disk, viruses that can disable a software program or an entire computer system. Many users don't know how to use virus prevention software or other practices to screen out such programs.

People online may not be who they seem, and not everything online is true. Rumors and false stories are sometimes perceived as fact simply because someone writes at the top of an email, "My brother read this in the New York Times."

Youth may engage in activities online that are illegal and could lead to prosecution, such as hacking into a government web site.

There are several simple activities a volunteer or others can employ to ensure the safety of participants in a project relating to computers and the Internet. The following suggestions are offered especially for community telecenters and other ICT4D programs in developing countries that build the capacities of people to use the Internet.

Establishing a "Living" Code of Online Conduct
An online safety program for a community telecenter or other capacity-building ICT4D project should have four goals:

• to protect participants' privacy and personal information (participants can be staff, volunteers, clients, parents, etc.)

• to prevent opportunities for abuse or exploitation of participants

• to protect youth from inappropriate online materials or information

Your telecenter or other community ICT program should establish and communicate a code of online conduct and other guidelines for users that cover a variety of potentially hazardous situations. It should be more than a set of rules -- it should be created with input from users themselves, and emphasized through a variety of activities to reinforce the overall message of safety online. For instance:

• Have you worked with users at your center or other community members to define what they believe would be inappropriate online communications, activities and materials?

• What have you told center users and others they should do if they are contacted by someone via email in an inappropriate way?

• What should users, particularly youth, do if they encounter inappropriate material or illegal activities while at your center?

• What should a user do if they observe a volunteer, staff person, or client engaging in illegal or inappropriate online activity at your center?

• Have you communicated with users regarding when it is and isn't appropriate for them to share personal information, such as their home address, their age, etc. with others online? Have you talked to them regarding the dangers of sharing bank account numbers or credit card information via email?

• Have users been warned never to share password or login information with anyone via email, even those claiming to be with a particular government organization, the Internet service provider, UN Volunteers, or any other organization that may sound legitimate or seem to exercise some kind of authority?

• Have users, particularly youth and women, been cautioned against setting up meetings with people they have met online?

Engaging in the aforementioned activities will help you develop a code for online conduct that will be something both users and staff have contributed to and adhere to.

Resources
These resources on other organizations' web sites can help you in crafting your online safety activities and policies:

Safer Internet
This is a comprehensive web portal and information center by the European Union to tackle "the controversial issue of illegal, harmful and racist content on the Internet."

Internet-Related Safety Tips for Teens
From the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, in the United States.

Piracy, Pornography, Plagiarism, Propaganda, Privacy: Teaching Children to Be Responsible Users of Technology Protects Their Rights and the Rights of Others
An outstanding article by Merle Marsh, Ed.D. that outlines various ways students and teachers can protect themselves online from inappropriate communications (people trying to obtain passwords, predators, pornographic material, people and sites that promote hatred or violence, piracy, etc.). This article has many, many real life examples.

Computer and Network Usage Policies
Includes resources and links to sample network usage policies and perspectives on the subject, the implications of e-mail records, and much more.

Student Internet Policies For the Conroe (Texas) Independent School District
These are excellent guides for any organization to use to create their own policies regarding Internet use by youth and anyone working with youth.

Acceptable Use Policies: A Handbook: Virginia Department of Education
Templates and tips on writing Internet acceptable use policies in the K-12 environment. Includes sample policies, and review the legal and ethical issues related to internet censorship and child safety.

TechCorps Online Safety Resources
Includes a primer, free screen savers, sample acceptable use policies for schools, and index of rating systems, filtering options, and other content control approaches, and lots of links to other resources.

Cyberangels, is the largest online safety and educational program in cyberspace. Cyberangels has a program called Net Patrol, where volunteers patrol the Internet looking for child pornography, stalkers, child predators, groups advocating child abuse and pedophilia, hate and bigotry sites and scam artists and, working together with SOC-UM, another well-respected child advocacy group, compiling and updating a list of sites harmful to children, among many, many other programs.

UNITeS is looking for sample online policies from community technology centers around the world, particularly those that are in languages other than English and/or serve centers in developing countries. Please contact us if you have a suggestion for such a site; please include the name of the site and the URL.