Spacelocker

Your Safety

USING SPACELOCKER SAFELY

No one is more important to us than our family and friends. At Spacelocker, we work to make it easier for you to stay in touch with the important people in your life. As your first port of call for the internet, this site lets you reach millions of people worldwide. The way that you and each person use the site can help to keep the Spacelocker community the happiest space on earth.

Spacelocker works toward a positive online experience for our users through safety features and technology, partnerships with safety and law enforcement organizations, and support of new laws that develop online safety tools, education, and research.

Stay safe and have fun online.

GENERAL TIPS

As a member of the Spacelocker community, you’ll soon see how easy it is to express who you are and keep in touch with your friends. But who you let into your personal space, how you interact with them, and how you present yourself online is just as important. Using the following guidelines and your own common sense will help you get the most from your Spacelocker experience:

• Your profile and all social networking forums are public spaces. The world will have access to what you post. Don't post anything you wouldn't want parents, teachers, or employers to know. Don’t post anything that could embarrass you or expose you to danger, such as your phone number, school, home address, or where you hang out. Don't make it easy for a stranger to find you. Think before you post.
• Protect your privacy. Spacelocker only displays your profile information to your friends in your address book and other friends who you have trusted with your Spacelocker login email address.
• People aren't always who they say they are. How well do you really know the person at the other end of the internet connection? Be cautious when you add a stranger to your Friends list. Part of the fun of Spacelocker is meeting and connecting with new friends from around the world, but don't get together in person with someone you "meet" online unless you are certain of who they are. Talk it over with an adult first, and arrange any meetings in a public place; bring along friends, parents, or a trusted adult.
• Report harassment, hate speech, and inappropriate content. If you feel someone's behavior is inappropriate, report it to Spacelocker and to the authorities.
• Be honest about your age. If Spacelocker customer service determines that any member is misrepresenting their age, we will delete their profile.
• Be wary of scams. By pretending to be a site you trust, nefarious characters use phishing to try to get personal information, such as your username and password. If you suddenly start receiving abnormal bulletins or messages from a friend, they might have been phished. Check with them before you open any files or click on any links. If you think you or a friend are victims of phishing, change your password immediately and contact the authorities.

TIPS FOR PARENTS

Spacelocker offers the following tips to begin discussing safe Web practices:

1. Start a dialog. Talk to your children about why they use Spacelocker and how they use it to communicate with others and represent themselves online. Because social networking in their daily lives can be as important as cell phones, email, or instant messenger, express your interest in understanding the role it plays. Ask why they like being online and who they hang out with online. Ask about their friends, what they listen to, and what interests them within the community.
2. Report inappropriate behavior. Harassment, hate speech, and inappropriate content all violate the Spacelocker Terms of Use. If your kids encounter inappropriate behavior, they should report it to you, the authorities, and/or Spacelocker immediately. To report a problem, go to Contact Spacelocker and select "Reporting Abuse."
3. . Talk about Spacelocker and the internet. Spacelocker, like the rest of the world online, is a public space. Members should not post anything they don’t want the world to know, such as phone number, address, or anything that could embarrass them or expose them to danger.
4. Remind teens to be cautious. People aren't always who they say they are. Remind your teens to be careful about strangers they add to their Friends list. It's fun to connect with new Spacelocker friends from different parts of the world, but always be cautious when first communicating with people you don't know.
5. . Minimize risk. Encourage teens to be themselves, while using the same basic safety principles they apply in the physical world. Reckless behavior online is just as dangerous as chatting with a stranger at the mall or giving their cell phone number to someone they don't know. Discuss with your kids any ideas about meeting an online friend in person. With your approval, any meeting should take place in public, with friends or a trusted adult present.

See also: A Parent's Guide TO Social Networking Sites below.

MOBILE SAFETY TIPS

Any time you use the internet-at school, work, home, on an internet-enabled mobile phone, smart phone, or wireless personal digital assistant (PDA)-always stay aware and stay safe. Spacelocker mobile gives mobile users access and features similar to those on a desktop or laptop computer. The same safety rules and tips apply, but consider some additional precautions:

1. . Think before you upload. Some mobile devices let you upload photos straight from the camera on your phone to the internet quickly and easily. Be sure that all material is appropriate with no sexually explicit material or identifier that would enable someone to find you in the real world. Spacelocker deletes any images and profiles that violate our Terms of Use.
2. . Don't access the internet while driving.
3. Don't save login and password info on mobile devices. Mobile phones and PDAs can be easily lost or stolen. If you save your login and password on your mobile device, anyone who gets their hands on that device can access your Spacelocker profile, friends, and photos. If you lose your device, immediately change your Spacelocker password and call your carrier to deactivate the device.
4. Beware of shoulder surfers. When you access the internet on your mobile device, check to see if anyone’s trying to see what you're doing. Put your mobile device away if someone you don't know wants to see your profile or personal information.

SAFETY SETTINGS

Spacelocker has developed safety features and settings to protect you from unwanted contact and to give you control over who see’s your personal profile.

• Profile privacy Your profile information on Spacelocker is only viewable by your friends. This includes friends in your address book or friends that you have given your Spacelocker login email address to. If you are ever in doubt about the sensitivity of data within your profile information then choose to keep this data elsewhere. Your message pad is your own private area, where you can store notes or information that you don’t want your friends to see, however we do not recommend using the message pad for sensitive data.

A Parent's Guide to Social Networking Sites

Social networking sites have become a mainstream communication medium. These sites encourage and enable members to easily exchange information about themselves, share pictures and videos, and use blogs and private messaging to communicate with family and friends, others with shared interests, and sometimes even the world-at-large. And that’s why it’s important to be aware of the risks and possible pitfalls that networking online brings.

Some social networking sites attract kids as young as 5 or 6. These youth-focused sites don’t allow the same kinds of communication that teens and adults have, but parents can still help younger kids socialize safely online. In fact, when it comes to younger kids, the law provides protections and gives parents some control over the type of information that children can disclose online. The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires sites directed to children under age 13-and general audience sites that know they’re dealing with kids younger than 13-to get parental consent before they collect, maintain, or use kids’ information. COPPA also allows parents to review their child’s online profiles and blog pages.

Parents sometimes can feel outpaced by their technologically savvy kids. Spacelocker offers the following tips for helping your kids use social networking sites safely:

Help your kids understand what information should be private. Tell them why it's important not to share some things about themselves, family members, and friends. Information like their full name, Social Security number, street address, phone number, and bank or credit card account numbers is private and should stay that way. A screen name that gives away too much personal information can also be a risk.

Use privacy settings to restrict who can access your child's website. Some social networking sites have strong privacy settings. Show your child how to use these settings to limit who can view their online profile, and explain to them why this is important.

Explain why kids should post information carefully. Even with privacy settings turned on, some of your child’s profile may be seen by a broader audience than you’re comfortable with. Encourage your child to think about the language they use in a blog and the pictures and videos they post. Prospective employers, college admissions officers, team coaches, and teachers may view your child’s postings. Even a kid’s screen name can make a difference. Encourage teens to think about the impression that screen names could make.

Remind your kids that they can't take back what they post online. Even if they delete the information from a site, older versions may exist on other people's computers and be circulated online.

Know how your kids get online. More and more, kids are accessing the internet through their cell phones. Find out about what limits you can place on your child’s cell phone. Some cellular companies have plans that limit downloads, internet access, and texting; other plans allow kids to use those features only at certain times of day.

Talk to your kids about bullying. Online bullying takes many forms, from spreading rumors online, to posting or forwarding private messages without the sender’s OK, to sending threatening messages. Tell your kids that the words they type and the images they post can have real-world consequences. These postings can make the target of the bullying feel bad, make the sender look bad, and, sometimes can bring on punishment from the authorities. Encourage your kids to talk to you if they feel uncomfortable or threatened by something online. You can then help them report concerns to the police and to the social networking site.

Talk to your kids about avoiding sex talk online. Recent research shows that teens who don’t talk about sex with strangers online are less likely to come in contact with a predator. If you're concerned that your child is engaging in risky online behavior, you can search the blog sites they visit to see what information they're posting. Try searching by their name, nickname, school, hobbies, grade, or area where you live.

Read sites’ privacy policies. Spend some time with a site’s privacy policy, FAQs, and parent sections to understand its features and privacy controls. The site should spell out your rights as a parent to review and delete your child’s profile if your child is younger than 13.

Take extra steps to protect younger kids. Keep the computer in an open area like the kitchen or family room, so you can keep an eye on what your kids are doing online. Use the internet with them to help develop safe surfing habits. Consider taking advantage of parental control features on some operating systems that let you manage your kids’ computer use, including what sites they can visit, whether they can download items, or what time of day they can be online.

Go where your kids go online. Sign up for and use the social networking spaces that your kids visit. Let them know that you’re there, and help teach them how to act as they socialize online.

Review your child’s friends list. You may want to limit your younger child’s online friends to people your child actually knows and is friendly with in real life.

Understand sites’ privacy policies. Sites should spell out your rights as a parent to review and delete your child’s profile if your child is younger than 13.

To learn more about staying safe online, visit the following websites:

Federal Trade Commission - www.OnGuardOnline.gov

The FTC works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261.

OnGuardOnline.gov provides practical tips from the US government and the technology industry to help you guard against internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information.

ConnectSafely - www.connectsafely.org

ConnectSafely is a forum for parents, teens, educators, and advocates designed to give teens and parents a voice in the public discussion about youth online safety, and has tips, as well as other resources, for safe blogging and social networking. Along with NetFamilyNews.org, it is a project of the non-profit Tech Parenting Group.

Cyberbully411 - www.cyberbully411.org

Cyberbully411 provides resources and opportunities for discussion and sharing for youth - and their parents - who have questions about or may have been targeted by online harassment. The website was created by the non-profit Internet Solutions for Kids, Inc., with funding from the Community Technology Foundation of California.

GetNetWise - www.getnetwise.org

GetNetWise is a public service sponsored by internet industry corporations and public interest organizations to help ensure that internet users have safe, constructive, and educational or entertaining online experiences. The GetNetWise coalition works to provide internet users with resources to make informed decisions about their use of the internet.

Internet Keep Safe Coalition - www.iKeepSafe.org

iKeepSafe.org is a coalition of 49 governors/first spouses, law enforcement, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other associations dedicated to helping parents, educators, and caregivers by providing tools and guidelines to promote safe internet and technology use among children.

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children - www.missingkids.com; www.netsmartz.org

NCMEC is a private, non-profit organization that helps prevent child abduction and sexual exploitation; helps find missing children; and assists victims of child abduction and sexual exploitation, their families, and the professionals who serve them.

staysafe - www.staysafe.org

staysafe.org is an educational site intended to help consumers understand both the positive aspects of the internet as well as how to manage a variety of safety and security issues that exist online.

Wired Safety - www.wiredsafety.org

WiredSafety.org is an internet safety and help group. WiredSafety.org provides education, assistance, and awareness on cybercrime and abuse, privacy, security, and responsible technology use. It is also the parent group of Teenangels.org, FBI-trained teens and preteens who promote internet safety.

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires websites to obtain parental consent before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children under age 13. If a website is violating COPPA, report it to the Federal Trade Commission