Online Safety

Online Filtering and Monitoring - Forcepoint
Parent Guidance Documents
 
Check out the latest guidance on online safety, the apps and games your children are using and how to interact with your child about staying safe online.
Our network service is provided by Warrington Borough Council who use Forcepoint as a solution to provide appropriate web filtering. Warrington Borough Council believe the service offered by the Council meets the requirements of the current legislation for appropriate filtering.

Forcepoint have an Advanced Classification Engine that performs in depth, real-time inspection of content to categorise web sites and protect users for accessing inappropriate content and malware. The service, intercepts traffic from across the school's network and is designed to protect staff and learners as much as possible.

Forcepoint have provided a response to the UK Safer Internet Centre's monitoring checklist which can be viewed below.
 

Filtering Exceptions And Safesearch

There are some circumstances where a filtering system does not appear to take any effect, these are:

  • Google images
  • You tube, or similar video sharing platforms
  • Other websites that collect and display clipart and/or images
  • Website adverts 

The search function within Google does have something called “SafeSearch” and this is enforced by default.

If a child does find a website that they feel is inappropriate, they know to immediately tell their teacher, who will then report it to the Council’s IT team for investigation, Warrington Borough Council are able to block websites as the need arises and inform Forcepoint so they can take the appropriate categorisation action.

NSPCC - Net Aware

Snapchat Warning

The following advice comes from Cheshire Police and Safer Partnerships. Please take time to read at and discuss with your children in necessary. See the links at the bottom of the page for support.

Recently, Snapchat introduced a new feature, the ‘Snap Map’.

This location based map allows users to see where in the country their Snapchat contacts are, as well as seeing location based photos and videos. The Snap Map shows a user’s Bitmoji, their cartoon avatar within Snapchat, pinpointed on a world map. Users can then zoom into the map to see the exact location of their friends. 

How to access Snap Maps

To access the Snap Map in the latest update of the Snapchat app, users need to go to their camera screen withinSnapchat and zoom out using two fingers. This will then launch the Snap Maps screen and will allow a user to see their friend’s locations.

Choose who can see your location

It is important to be careful about who you share your location with, as it can allow people to build up a picture of where you live, go to school and spend your time.

Given how specific this new feature is on Snapchat - giving your location to a precise pinpoint on a map - we would encourage users not to share their location, especially with people they don’t know in person.

There are three settings for sharing your location on the map, these are; Ghost mode, My Friends, and Select Friends. But what do these settings mean?

Ghost Mode Ghost Mode means that you are the only person who can see your location on the map. Within Ghost Mode you can still see the locations of your friends but they will be unable to see you. This setting will ensure that you have complete control over who knows your location.

My Friends My Friends means that all of your contacts on Snapchat can see your location. If turning on this setting then it would be important for users to review their Snapchat contacts and also make sure that they never add someone they don’t know in person onto Snapchat.

Select Friends This setting allows users to look through their friend list and then decide which of their friends they want to be able to view their location. This setting gives users the opportunity to control who can view their location.

Changing settings

When first opening the Snap Map users get to make a decision of who they want to be able to view their location. Once these settings are in place they can always be changed in Snapchat’s settings. This can be done in two ways:

In the Snapchat settings

In the Snapchat screen click on the Settings (cog) icon> click on ‘see my location’ > Choose the setting which suits you

On the Snap Map

Top tips

Sharing location can be a risky thing to do. Our tips for location sharing are:

  • Only share your location with people you know in person. Never share your location with strangers.
  • Don’t add contacts to Snapchat if you don’t know them in person.
  • Regularly review your settings and take an active decision about whether you want people to know your location. Remember you can switch this off at any time. Think about where you’re sharing your location. Location services such as Snap Maps can lead people to your house. Think about what times you’re on the app and whether these are locations you want to share – if not, then turn this off within your settings.

 

Please visit the below for further advice and guidance:

UK Safer Internet Centre :   https://saferinternet.org.uk/blog/introducing-%E2%80%98snap-maps%E2%80%99-new-location-sharing-feature-snapchat

https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/21/snap-map/

http://www.childnet.com/blog/introducing-snap-maps-the-new-location-sharing-feature-in-snapchat

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/40415706

 

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