This policy was agreed by KLS Trustees on 25th November 2020.
This policy is reviewed annually (or earlier if the law changes).
It will be reviewed again in September 2022.
Note: This Digital Safeguarding Policy should be read and followed in conjunction with KLS’ Safeguarding Policy (including Child Protection and Vulnerable Adults)
Katherine Low Settlement is a charity that has been serving Battersea and the wider Wandsworth community since 1924. We are dedicated to building stronger communities and enable people to challenge and find ways out of poverty and isolation.
We run a range of our own community projects to support older people, refugee communities, women and children, young people and families. In addition to these direct community services, we also use our premises to act as a local hub for other charities and community groups, so that as partners, we can meet the diverse needs of the communities of Wandsworth. Each week we work with 45+ charities and community groups supporting more than 1,100 people. Visit www.klsettlement.org.uk
Katherine Low Settlement (KLS) is fully committed to safeguarding the welfare of all children, young people and vulnerable adults using its services (either in person and/or online) and its building. It recognises its responsibility to take all reasonable steps to promote safe practice and to protect these children, young people and vulnerable adults from harm, abuse and exploitation regardless of age, gender, disability, ethnicity or sexual identity. KLS acknowledges its duty to act appropriately when it receives any allegations, reports or suspicions of abuse. Paid staff and volunteers will work together to encourage an ethos which embraces difference and diversity and respects the rights of children, young people and vulnerable adults.
This policy covers all children, young people and vulnerable adults accessing digital services run and managed by the Settlement. Other organisations renting rooms or office space in the building have their own separate safeguarding policies, child protection policies and/or vulnerable adult’s policies.
The policy is endorsed by the Katherine Low Settlement’s Trustees and will be reviewed annually to make sure it remains relevant and appropriate to the needs of KLS and its children, young people and vulnerable adults.
This Digital Safeguarding Policy is freely accessible to all. This means that KLS will share copies of this policy with staff and volunteers as part of their induction and training. All KLS’ policies will appear on its website. An information poster with the names of staff responsible for Safeguarding will be displayed in the building and circulated to organisations using the building. Hard copies of this policy will be available upon request.
Note: A separate KLS Safeguarding Policy (including Child Protection and Vulnerable Adults) should be read and followed in conjunction with this Digital Safeguarding Policy.
https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/ – NSPCC
www.londonscb.gov.uk – Child Safeguarding
http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/adultsafeguardinglondon/index.asp – Adult Safeguarding
www.wscb.org.uk – Wandsworth Safeguarding Board
This policy specifically covers all Katherine Low Settlement’s online and digital activities.
This includes but is not limited to email; websites; social media channels (such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, SnapChat, Tik Tok, LinkedIn etc.); all blogging platforms; staff and volunteer platforms; other digital platforms such as Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts; all ICT devices (including phones) and internet connectivity that is provided by KLS.
This policy explains our approach to protecting members, volunteers and staff. [Note: ‘members’ is the term that KLS refers to, otherwise known as clients, customers, service users]. We are constrained by the terms of service of third-party social media providers in our approach. We promote safe use, but we also recognise that some issues will only be able to be handled by the service provider and the user themselves.
In order to uphold these principles our volunteers, members and staff must:
We will:
KLS’ Safeguarding Leads are responsible for digital safeguarding in KLS. They are:
As a member, volunteer, or staff member, if you know of an allegation, concern or disclosure incident you must inform KLS Safeguarding Leads.
When an incident happens in a meeting or activity or a member raises an issue at an online meeting, you must deal with it the same way as other safeguarding incidents. If you aren’t sure about how to handle incidents you should contact KLS Safeguarding Lead (Aaron Barbour, CEO) on [email protected] and 020 7223 2845.
KLS is committed to the protection of our members, volunteers and staff and will only share information with other agencies where there are significant concerns, or a potential crime has been committed.
Digital safeguarding means: ‘the protection from harm in the online environment through the implementation of effective technical solutions, advice and support and procedures for managing incidents’.
KLS is committed to the safeguarding and protection of all members, volunteers, staff and users of our digital services and social media channels, and we apply the same safeguarding principles to KLS’s activities whether they are offline or online.
This means protecting our members, volunteers and staff from online harms such as:
Online-safety risks are traditionally categorised as one of the 3 Cs: Content, Contact or Conduct (identified by Professor Tanya Byron’s 2008 report “Safer children in a digital world”). They do not stand in isolation, however, and it is important to understand the interplay between all three.
The main areas of risk for KLS community can be summarised as follows:
Content
Contact
Conduct
More detail is given below.
Online bullying can be offensive, intimidating, malicious, insulting behaviour and abuse of power which humiliates or denigrates the other person. It can involve one or more person. This can be known as ‘trolling’ when the user deliberately starts quarrels or upsets people by posting inflammatory or off-topic messages in an online community.
Online harassment can come in the form of unwanted verbal conduct online which has the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person and or creating a hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. It can be related to personal characteristics of an individual, such as age, sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion or belief or nationality.
Online examples of this abuse include abusive messages, exclusion from groups, malicious or insulting comments and sharing offensive imagery.
Sexual exploitation and grooming online is the act of developing a relationship with a child or vulnerable adult with the intention of abusing them. Offenders use emotional and psychological tricks to build relationships. The abuse can take place online or offline.
Non-contact abuse is where a child or vulnerable adult is encouraged to share live or still images of themselves of a sexual nature. They can be forced to commit sex acts or to perform on web cams or built in cameras in phones and other devices.
It can be an offence to stir up hatred – known as inciting hatred – on the grounds of the following protected characteristics:
The content of a website can also be illegal when it threatens or harasses a person or a group of people. If this is posted because of hostility based on protected characteristic, it can be considered a hate crime.
Illegal material could be in words, pictures, videos, and even music and can include:
The sharing of illegal and inappropriate imagery online (sometimes known as sexting) can fall into two categories: illegal and inappropriate.
‘Illegal’ is child sexual abuse imagery and imagery that incites violence, hate or terrorism.
‘Inappropriate’ in this context could mean the sharing of pornography, violent content, racist content and homophobic, biphobic or transphobic content.
It is an offence to share inappropriate imagery of anyone under the age of 18 and could result in a conviction.
Cyberstalking is the repeated use of electronic communications to harass or frighten someone, for example by sending threatening communications.
Impersonation and hacking online is where a user pretends to be somebody else, and they may hack into their profile and share information, imagery or posts for example, on behalf of that person.
Misinformation and disinformation are the acts of spreading knowledge that is incorrect.
Disinformation is the deliberate intent to spread information which is known to be incorrect.
Misinformation is where an individual may not be aware of the fact that they are sharing inaccurate information, for example they share information or content that they believe to be true.
Personal information includes information that makes an individual personally identifiable. This can include name, date of birth, address, phone number, email address and social media profile name. It may also include identifying details based on an individual’s protected characteristic.
KLS adheres to all relevant UK laws relating to users of our digital platforms, third party social media and the use of our ICT equipment.
Relevant laws include:
This list is not exhaustive. We review any changes in legislation to make sure we are compliant.
Any breach of this policy by staff will be managed under the staff disciplinary procedure. Staff can find this procedure in the KLS Staff Handbook.
Any breach of this policy by volunteers will be managed under KLS Volunteer Policy (found on our website).
Any member/user of KLS and/or the general public can make a complaint following KLS Complaints & Compliments Policy (found on our website).
KLS Digital Safeguarding Procedures
The above was KLS Digital Safeguarding Policy. What follows below are the procedures for putting the policy into practice. This is not a definitive list. KLS will give appropriate training to accompany this policy and procedures.
The online space is an increasingly important area for KLS, and we recognise the opportunities and challenges that this brings.
KLS supports our members in developing their digital skills, through a wide range of programmes and activities. We use third party social media channels like Twitter, Facebook and digital platforms such as the KLS website to engage with our members, their parents/carers and volunteers. And staff and volunteers also use social media and the internet to communicate with one another, and with young members, their parents/carers and vulnerable adults.
We want to continue to provide a safe space for members to explore and communicate online, so it’s important that we understand the risks and issues that the online space brings and have the appropriate procedures in place.
These procedures are for members, staff and volunteers and should be read alongside KLS’ Digital Safeguarding policy (see above). They detail what you need to do in order to keep to the policy and they give information about what to you should do.
A range of measures are in place to mitigate and manage online risks:
See KLS Safeguarding Policy and Data Protection Policy for more information (these can be downloaded from KLS website).
As staff and volunteers you must understand what’s acceptable. And you need to make sure young members and vulnerable adults know what is acceptable and unacceptable when using digital technology.
You must follow these procedures.
Where devices are owned by KLS and/or access to devices is given by KLS, there must be necessary mitigations in place to protect members, staff and volunteers. These include:
Users of KLS’s equipment should never:
KLS members, staff and volunteers should always make sure that where access is offered or managed by KLS to young members or vulnerable adults, there is age appropriate supervision and quality assurance. Also, make sure that security and safety settings have been installed at the set-up stage. You should refer to the manufacturers best practice guides for full information.
Where appropriate KLS staff are provided a work mobile phone. They should not use their personal devices.
As KLS staff or volunteer you may use mobile phones in any activities and sessions. This includes taking photos and films. However, permission must be obtained from parents/carers before photos and films are taken and images shared.
Staff and volunteers should always:
Staff and volunteers should never:
Young members and vulnerable adults may bring their mobile devices to activities and meetings, but each KLS community service must decide this beforehand.
Members should always:
Members should never:
Staff and volunteers should always:
Staff and volunteers should never:
Young members and vulnerable adults should always:
Young members and vulnerable adults should never:
Virtual meetings held by KLS community services with its members must not be recorded. The virtual meeting organiser must check meeting settings to ensure that this facility is turned off.
External work meetings attended by KLS staff and volunteers with partner agencies and other charities can be recorded.
Staff and volunteers should always:
Staff and volunteers should never:
Members should always:
These organisations offer additional support on a range of digital and safeguarding topics.
Contact the following KLS staff for more information, advice and guidance about safeguarding.
KLS Safeguarding Leads: