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Online Safety

Age Assurance

In the UK the Online Safety Act became legislation some time ago, but 2025 sees the Act being enforced in phases primarily due to the fact that it is huge. The first phase (end of March 2025) is in relation to illegal harms of which there are over 130. July sees a really important one, particularly when it comes to children and young people - age assurance. This is a really difficult part of the Act, where content isn't illegal, but could be harmful to younger users. For years we've all been shouting for better age assurance methods than we've currently got (press this button to confirm you're over 18) and now it's here. It isn't perfect, there's some pretty big gaps, there's problems and there are workarounds, but it's a step in the right direction and better than we've had previously.

Essentially tech companies must conform to requirements:

1. They must assess their platforms to see if children can access them and implement measures to protect those children.

2. They must introduce effective age checks, particularly platforms which host adult or other harmful content.

3. And ensure that harmful material cannot be accessed or viewed during the age-checking process.

WhatsApp Account Takeover Scam

Another month, another WhatsApp scam. This time criminal gangs are managing to get into chat groups, particularly groups where there are large numbers of people, meaning that no-one knows everyone. From there they will target individuals in the group by telling them that a code is on its way to them which they need to share. For example, a student chat group was infiltrated by someone pretending to be their university lecturer and he asked them all to share their code so that they could join a group call. At that point, the criminal gang now has control of your personal WhatsApp account and will be able to message others asking for money.

Whilst it can be difficult to get your head around some of these scams the message is simple. Regardless of how old you are, regardless of how much you trust that person, never ever share passwords or passcodes.

Survey Reports and Findings

#WakeUpWednesday