Online Safety

Here at Netlog, we are very concerned about our users' safety. That's why we take the 7 EU Safer Social Networking Principles into account whenever we develop anything on our site.

Protecting yourself online

Protect yourself by downloading AVG 2011

Recent threats

• Grooming:

  Grooming refers to actions deliberately undertaken with the aim of befriending and establishing an emotional connection with a child, in preparation for child sexual abuse. To establish a good relationship with the child and the child's family, child groomers might do several things: they might give gifts or money to the child for no apparent reason, they may simply talk about sexual topics or even show pornography to the child.

  Have you been contacted by an adult in a weird way? This is what you should do:

  • Stop having contact immediately
  • Save all previous conversations
  • Talk about this with an adult you trust
  • Report the adult to Netlog, by using the ‘Report Abuse' button or mailing to abuse-en@netlog.com
  • Report to the police
• Whaling:

  A friend is calling for financial help, because he's stuck abroad with no money, cell phone or ID? Don't just trust this message, but check if the message is genuine. Give your friend a call and check if he/she is really abroad. Most probably, this message is fake, and his mail account or profile was hacked to send the message to you. Don't transfer money without verifying the call for help actually comes from your friend, and always ask for an adult opinion before doing so.

• Phishing:

  Phishing sites attempt to steal passwords by acting as trustworthy sites. Users are asked to enter login details at a fake website which looks almost identical to the legitimate one. Beware of such sites. Never enter your password on sites that look like Netlog, but have a different URL (e.g. www.freelaptop-Netlog.com). If you've accidentally logged in on such a site, edit the password of your Netlog profile as soon as possible!

  We advise you to:

  • Run a virus scan on your computer. If you don't have anti-virus software on your computer, you can use one of the sites from the list of helpful sites.
  • Edit your password. You can do this here. Enter your current and new password and hit the 'Change password' button.
  • Warn your friends who received the spam not to click on the links and to delete the private messages immediately.
• Netlog programs:

  You might have come across programs like the Netlog Friend Adder, which enables you to add more friends automatically. This in itself is not a threat, as Netlog has spam filters that will prevent you from adding too many friends in too little time. However, the tool itself can affect your personal safety: Netlog can give no guarantees about the quality or safety of such programs. You never know if these tools contain viruses or other malware. Moreover, if you have to enter your Netlog nickname and password in the tool, there's no guarantee that the creator of the tool isn't saving those credentials himself in order to use them for wrong purposes. Remember that the only Netlog-related programs you can fully trust are the ones on our download pages or brand pages, which have always been reviewed by Netlog. This is why we would definitely advise you against downloading any other 'Netlog tools'.

• Netlog Lottery:

  Some users receive private messages that they won a prize in a lottery organized by Netlog. Those messages are sent by scammers who claim to be Netlog representatives. All promotions and competitions organized by Netlog are announced on the Netlog contest page or on Netlog brand pages. By no means should you respond to such messages and reveal your personal details. Instead, be sure to report the message as abuse, so we can block the account and report to authorities.

International organisations dealing with online safety

The following institutions and organisations are specialised in helping people deal with all kinds of issues. Check their websites for more information:

Missing Children/Child Abuse

Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre
www.ceop.gov.uk
Contact: www.ceop.gov.uk/contact/

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC)
www.nspcc.org.uk
Contact: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/whatwedo/aboutthenspcc/contactus/

The Churches’ Child Protection Advisory Service (CCPAS)
www.ccpas.co.uk
Email: info@ccpas.co.uk

The Family Online Safety Institute
http://www.fosi.org/
contact: http://www.fosi.org/contactus

SafeKids organization focused on child safety
www.safekids.co.uk
contact: http://www.safekids.co.uk/howtocontactus

http://www.childline.org.uk

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Online Police

https://online.met.police.uk

http://www.iwf.org.uk

http://www.iwf.org.uk

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Bullying

http://www.victimsupport.org.uk
Supportline: 0845 30 30 900

http://www.crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk
national domestic violence helpline: 0808 2000 247

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Racism/discrimination

http://www.equalityhumanrights.com
England: 0845 604 6610
Scotland: 0845 604 5510
Wales: 0845 604 8810
Email: info@equalityhumanrights.com

http://www.stonewall.org.uk
Phone: 08000 502020 (Mon-Fri 9:30am to 5:30pm)
Email: info@stonewall.org.uk

http://www.stophateuk.org
Phone: 0800 1381625

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Safe sex

http://www.fpa.org.uk
Helpline: 0845 122 8690 (Mon-Fri 9am to 6pm)

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Suicide/mental help

http://www.papyrus-uk.org
Hopeline: 08000 68 41 41 (Mon-Fri 10:00 am to 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm, Weekends 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm)

http://www.sane.org.uk
Email: sanemail@sane.org.uk
Phone: 0845 767 8000

http://www.callhelpline.org.uk
for Wales: 0800132737

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Drug prevention

http://www.hopeuk.org/
phone: 020 7928 0848

http://www.pada.org.uk
Phone: 08457 023867

http://www.talktofrank.com
Phone: 0800 77 66 00

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General

http://www.samaritans.org
Phone: 08457 90 90 90
Email: jo@samaritans.org

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