ANNUAL PUBLIC REPORT

Transcript

1 ANNUAL PUBLIC REPORT 2009 www. s a f eli n e. g r

2 Greek combined node for creating public awareness and offering knowledge about how to use the Internet and other online technologies more safely, and for continuing and expanding the operation of the Greek Internet Hotline towards Peer-to-Peer and Mobile Technologies Annual Report January 2009 December 2009 Design copyright 2009 Safer Internet Hellas. Content copyright 2009 Saferinternet EL consortium. All rights reserved.

3 ANNUAL PUBLIC REPORT 2009 CONTENTS Safer Internet in Europe The Safer Internet Programme Safer Internet in Greece SECTION A: Awareness raising and helpline Main online safety issues Awareness raising activities Awareness tools for all age groups The web portal The Saferinternet.gr e-newspaper ΤV and radio campaign Bonds with press and media Educational Activities The Greek Centre s youth panel Safer Internet Day 2009 National Cooperation Helpline Cooperation with the Insafe Network SECTION Β: The Greek hotline Safeline Reports in 2009 How to make a report Report processing Working together with the police International collaboration

4 SAFER INTERNET IN EUROPE THE SAFER INTERNET PROGRAMME Young people and children are today amongst the biggest user groups of online and mobile technologies in Europe. The Safer Internet Programme aims at empowering and protecting children and young people online by awareness raising initiatives and by fighting illegal and harmful online content and conduct. In order to achieve the above goal, the programme funds Safer Internet Centres, currently present in 27 European countries, which develop information and awareness raising material, and organize information sessions for children, parents and teachers. They also receive reports on illegal content found on the Internet, and give advice on how to stay safe online. The Centres have also set up youth panels, which are consulted on safer Internet issues and information material. The coverage of the Safer Internet programme extends to new online technologies, including mobile and broadband content, online games, peer-to-peer file transfer, and all forms of realtime communications such as chat rooms, instant messages as well as recent communication services from the web 2.0, such as social networking, primarily with the aim of improving the protection of children and minors. Action will be taken to ensure that a broader range of areas of illegal and harmful content and conduct of concern are covered, including racism and violence. Source: Safer Internet Programme, SAFER INTERNET IN GREECE The Greek Safer Internet Centre is implemented with the co-financing of the European Commission under the Safer Internet Programme. It consists of three axes: Saferinternet.gr: Awareness Centre with the objective to create public awareness and to provide reliable information to minors and their parents about the proper and safer use of online technologies, as well as supportive material to educators, in order for them to become multipliers of awareness messages within the classroom. Safeline.gr: Hotline for reporting illegal content and conduct on the Internet. YpoSTIRIZO: Helpline for children, teenagers and their parents, offering support in cases of harmful content and conduct, such as excessive Internet use, bullying, or exposure to harmful online content. Awareness Centre and Helpline form the national representative of Insafe, the European network of Awareness Centres & Helplines, whereas the Hotline is the national representative of Inhope, the International Association of Internet Hotlines. 4

5 ANNUAL PUBLIC REPORT 2009 AWARENESS RAISING AND HELPLINE 5

6 MAIN ONLINE SAFETY ISSUES Τhe latest Saferinternet Eurobarometer survey 1 revealed that 52% of the Greek parents are concerned that their kids might reveal personal data on the Internet (rank 1 in EU27); 66% of the parents are concerned that their kids may be isolated by using the Internet far too many hours (rank 1 in EU27). One of the most severe concerns is that their kids might be confronted with inappropriate sexual / violent content on the Internet (81%) or on the mobile phone (75%), or with harmful content which promotes anorexia, self-harm or suicide (76%). Of big concern is also the possibility of grooming through the Internet (78%), and of cyberbullying by other minors, either via the Internet (83%) or via the mobile phone (78%). 1 Eurobarometer 2008 Towards a safer use of the Internet for children in the EU a parents perspective. Available at: eurobarometer/eurobarometer_2008.pdf Internet safety education should treat the student not as a simple user and consumer of new technology products, but also as a content creator. Greek Educator privacy A study conducted by the Greek Centre in primary schools in showed that 38% of the kids always surf alone on the Internet, 35% of those kids have a PC in their room, and only 9% have a PC in a commonly accessed place at home; 39% chat with other kids online, 9% give out personal data, and 38% have heard about happy slapping incidents. 2 The study was conducted in May 2009 by the Awareness Centre and the Helpline, with the help of the Dept. of Health in Primary Education, Ministry of Education, in 28 primary schools of the Attika region, receiving data from 602 kids of the fifth and sixth grade. cyberbullying 6

7 ANNUAL PUBLIC REPORT 2009 A parallel online study conducted by the Awareness Centre among educators in showed that 99% of the Greek educators think that Internet safety should be taught in schools. According to the survey, the five most important issues educators believe that should be taught in the framework of Internet safety education are: fundamental rules of safe Internet use (72%), protection of privacy (63%), proper management of online communication services (57%), trustworthiness of online content (44%), and utilization of the positive side of the Internet (41%). In Greece students do not even put on a helmet when they drive their motorcycles do you think that they would listen about Internet safety? Greek Educator 3 The online survey was conducted by the Awareness Centre with the cooperation of the Greek Schools Network during the period June September 2009, receiving 679 responses from educators around Greece. Fundamental rules Privacy protection Online communication Trustworthiness Positive side 7

8 AWARENESS RAISING ACTIVITIES AWARENESS TOOLS FOR ALL AGE GROUPS In 2009 we created a versatile set of awareness tools with easy-to-understand information targeting all ages. These tools were disseminated in various seminars and events, published in magazines, or downloaded from our web portal. Printed awareness material: Awareness tools through our web portal: Flyers Posters Wallpapers Flash games Advertorials e-newspaper Quizzes Booklets 8

9 THE PORTAL In December 2009 the Awareness Centre launched the campaign s fully revised Web portal. The portal is divided in three microsites for adults, teenagers and kids, accessible via its homepage and providing up-to-date and easy-to-understand information and advice related to the safer use of online interactive technologies. The portal provides also a special section dedicated to Safer Internet Day, an Archive section with the campaign s spots material, and all downloadable resources, a News section, where recent news and announcements are published, an Internet ABC as well as a FAQ section. From the homepage as well as from most of the web pages, the visitors can access the hotline and helpline respectively. HOME PAGE ANNUAL PUBLIC REPORT 2009 TEENAGERS MICROSITE KIDS MICROSITE ADULTS MICROSITE 9

10 AWARENESS RAISING ACTIVITIES THE SAFERINTERNET.GR E-NEWSPAPER During 2009, the Awareness Centre published and disseminated six issues of its electronic newspaper through its subscribers ing list. The list grew from 1607 subscriptions in January 2009 to 2437 subscriptions in December 2009, indicating an increase of 51,65%. The e-newspaper is disseminated on a bi-monthly basis and contains an editorial, a series of news concerning Internet safety, either in a local or a global context, an article-tribute to a topic identified as emerging or highly important, tutorials, practical tips, Internet related fun facts and trivia, as well as news of the awareness raising, hotline and helpline activities. Η ελληνική πραγματικότητα Online 8 στα 10 Ελληνόπουλα Τι γίνεται στην Ελλάδα... Οκτώ στους δέκα μαθητές της Ε και ΣΤ δημοτικού Κατά τη διάρκεια του χρησιμοποιούν ηλεκτρονικό υπολογιστή και περίπου ερευνητικού το 65% έχει πρόσβαση στο Διαδίκτυο, στοιχείο που προγράμματος, EU Kids αποδεικνύει ότι η χρήση Η/Υ και η περιήγηση στο Online I που Διαδίκτυο έχουν μπει για τα καλά στη ζωή των ολοκληρώθηκε το 2008, ελληνόπουλων με όλες τις θετικές, αλλά και τις ακαδημαϊκοί και ερευνητές αρνητικές συνέπειες. από 21 χώρες Τα παραπάνω έδειξε έρευνα που πραγματοποίησε η πραγματοποίησαν Μονάδα Εφηβικής Υγείας (Μ.Ε.Υ.) της Β Παιδιατρικής συγκριτικές αναλύσεις σε Κλινικής του Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών, στα πλαίσια του ερευνητικά δεδομένα σχετικά με τα παιδιά και τις νέες έργου της ως Γραμμή Βοηθείας του Ελληνικού τεχνολογίες. Συγκεκριμένα για την Ελλάδα τα στοιχεία Κέντρου Ασφαλούς Διαδικτύου, σε συνεργασία με το δείχνουν ότι: Γραφείο Αγωγής Υγείας Πρωτοβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης Α Αθηνών και τη Δράση Ενημέρωσης Η Ελλάδα είναι χώρα με περιορισμένη χρήση του Saferinternet.gr του Ελληνικού Κέντρου. διαδικτύου (50% των ατόμων 9-18 ετών) σε σύγκριση με άλλες ευρωπαϊκές χώρες, και άρα η Στην έρευνα απάντησαν 602 μαθητές από 28 ανάπτυξη επικοινωνιακού και διαδικτυακού Δημοτικά σχολεία της Αττικής. Για τη συλλογή των αλφαβητισμού είναι απαραίτητη. στοιχείων χρησιμοποιήθηκαν ερωτηματολόγια, τα οποία συμπλήρωσαν οι εκπαιδευτικοί, μετά από Ο κίνδυνος έκθεσης σε διαδικτυακούς κινδύνους συζήτηση με τους μαθητές τους στην τάξη. Μέσα από αξιολογείται ως χαμηλός λόγω: την έρευνα διαφαίνονται οι συνήθειες των μαθητών σε σχέση με τη χρήση του ηλεκτρονικού υπολογιστή και o Περιορισμένης χρήσης του διαδικτύου του κινητού τηλεφώνου, αλλά και ο τρόπος o Αποτελεσματικής λειτουργίας των θεσμικών διαχείρισης των προσωπικών τους δεδομένων και οργάνων για το ασφαλέστερο Διαδίκτυο επαφών μέσω Διαδικτύου. Τα κυριότερα συμπεράσματα της έρευνας είναι: Οι Έλληνες γονείς θεωρούν ότι τα παιδιά τους δεν έχουν ιδιαίτερα αναπτυγμένη την ικανότητα να 13% των μαθητών Ε και ΣΤ δημοτικού αντιμετωπίζουν διαδικτυακούς κινδύνους χρησιμοποιούν Η/Υ σε Internet café. (Ευρωβαρόμετρο, 2005) 62% χρησιμοποιούν Η/Υ στο σπίτι, 18% στο σπίτι φίλων και 22% στο σχολείο. Επιβλέπουν περισσότερο τα παιδιά τους όταν σερφάρουν στο διαδίκτυο συγκριτικά με χώρες 25% των μαθητών χρησιμοποιούν υπολογιστή/ όπως η Δανία και η Σουηδία όπου οι γονείς είναι Διαδίκτυο 2-3 ώρες καθημερινά, ενώ το 34% 0-1 λιγότερο συχνά παρόντες ώρες καθημερινά. Συγκριτικά με τα έτη 2005/2006, οι Έλληνες 38% των μαθητών σερφάρουν στο Διαδίκτυο μόνοι γονείς έχουν αυξήσει τη χρήση λογισμικού τους, χωρίς καμία παρουσία των γονέων τους. Το λειτουργίας και ασφάλειας 28% των μαθητών χρησιμοποιούν το Διαδίκτυο συχνά με την παρουσία των γονέων τους, ενώ Τον Ιούλιο του 2009, το EU Kids Online II (2009- μόνο το 7% πάντα με την παρουσία των γονέων. 2011) ξεκίνησε την β φάση του ερευνητικού του 35% των μαθητών έχουν τον Η/Υ στο δωμάτιό έργου, θεωρώντας ιδιαίτερα σημαντικό το να τους. μελετηθεί η φύση της χρήσης του Διαδικτύου από τα παιδιά και να μειωθούν οι «κρίσεις πανικού» 9% των μαθητών δίνουν προσωπικές πληροφορίες σχετικά με τους διαδικτυακούς κινδύνους. Έτσι, το στο Διαδίκτυο. EU Kids Online II θα διεξάγει μια έρευνα με γονείς 38% των μαθητών έχουν ακούσει για και τα παιδιά (9-16 ετών) σε κάθε μια από τις 25 μαγνητοσκόπηση ξυλοδαρμού. συμμετέχουσες ευρωπαϊκές χώρες. 61% των μαθητών χρησιμοποιούν κινητό Πηγή: τηλέφωνο ενώ 50% έχουν δική τους συσκευή Δεκέμβριος 2009 Εκδότης: Safer Internet Hellas, Eπικεφαλής δράσης Saferinternet.gr Υπεύθυνη ύλης: Σταυρούλα Παπαβασιλείου spapavasiliou@sihellas.org Επικοινωνία: Δρ. Βερόνικα Σαμαρά Τηλ vsamara@sihellas.org Περιεχόμενα Η ελληνική πραγματικότητα 2 Θεμελιώδες δικαίωμα η 3 πρόσβαση στο Διαδίκτυο Η συμβουλή του μήνα: Κωδικοί 3 Αφιέρωμα: Ρατσισμός - Ξενοφοβία 4 Μικρά Νέα 5 Editorial Αγαπητοί φίλοι, Σας καλωσορίζουμε στο Χριστουγεννιάτικο τεύχος μας στο οποίο ασχολούμαστε με την ελληνική πραγματικότητα σε σχέση με τα νέα διαδραστικά μέσα. Συγκεκριμένα σας παραθέτουμε στοιχεία πρόσφατης έρευνάς μας για τις συνήθειες των μαθητών δημοτικού που φαίνεται ότι έχουν αλλάξει δραματικά τα τελευταία χρόνια. Σας ενημερώνουμε επίσης για μια πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα εξέλιξη που αφορά στην ανάδειξη της πρόσβασης στο Διαδίκτυο σε θεμελιώδες ανθρώπινο δικαίωμα από το Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο. Επίσης, δύο από τα μέλη του πάνελ νέων μας καταθέτουν τις απόψεις τους για τις ευαίσθητες ισορροπίες που διαμορφώνονται στο Διαδίκτυο αναφορικά με τα περιστατικά ρατσισμού και ξενοφοβίας αλλά και το φαινόμενο της λογοκρισίας. Όπως πάντα στο τεύχος μας θα βρείτε πρακτικές συμβουλές αλλά και σύντομες, ενδιαφέρουσες ειδήσεις από τον κόσμο του Διαδικτύου. Τέλος, σας υπενθυμίζουμε ότι για το 2010 η Ημέρα Ασφαλούς Διαδικτύου θα εορταστεί στις 9 Φεβρουαρίου. Θα επανέλθουμε στις αρχές του νέου έτους με πληροφορίες σχετικά με τις εκδηλώσεις και δράσεις που θα λάβουν χώρα για τον φετινό εορτασμό. Σας ευχόμαστε Ευτυχισμένα Χριστούγεννα και Καλή Χρονιά! Εγγραφή / διαγραφή Εάν θέλετε να λαμβάνετε το newsletter μας, στείλτε μας ένα ηλεκτρονικό μήνυμα στην διεύθυνση info@sihellas.org με θέμα «subscribe SI Newsletter». Εάν θέλετε να διαγραφείτε από την λίστα αποδεκτών, τότε στείλτε μας ένα ηλεκτρονικό μήνυμα στην διεύθυνση info@sihellas.org με τον τίτλο «unsubscribe SI Newsletter»

11 TV AND RADIO CAMPAIGN During 2009, the Awareness Centre produced and broadcasted on public television two TV spots with Internet safety advice and two informative cards for the hotline and the helpline respectively. Furthermore, E.C. s STOP cyberbullying spot was broadcasted over times in 12 national and 25 ANNUAL PUBLIC REPORT 2009 regional channels, whereas the popular Klicksafe.de spot Wo ist Klaus, adapted in the Greek language, was broadcasted on public TV and viewed times online. Greek version of the popular spot Who ist Klaus, entitled Που είναι ο Μήτσος / Save Mitsos Helpline TV card Hotline TV card Greek adaptation of E..C. s spot for Safer Internet Day 2009, entitled STOP cyberbullying The Awareness Centre maintained a strong presence on the radio with a special Safer Internet Minute show every working day on NET public radio, with radio spots broadcasted in more than 15 national and 130 regional stations, with shows and interviews, and with several Safer Internet Minute features broadcasted in 12 languages, addressing the foreigners living in the country. 11

12 AWARENESS RAISING ACTIVITIES BONDS WITH PRESS AND MEDIA Press and media have been of strategic importance for the Greek campaign. Therefore, the Awareness Centre has been in close contact with TV, radio and press channels with national and regional coverage, forwarding press releases in regular intervals, and being available for interviews almost on a daily basis. Through this collaboration, the Centre achieved a significant appearance in the press, online, as well as in various TV and radio channels. mass media activities 216 articles in the Press 92 TV & radio appearances 324 online articles 12

13 EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES In continuation of its first educational book entitled Learning how to surf creatively and with safety - the first steps, published in 2008, the Awareness Centre created in 2009 the second volume entitled Learning how to surf creatively and with safety for advanced users. The book consists of 144 A4 pages with lesson plans designed to introduce the youngsters to advanced issues concerning the Internet and its safety. It is targeted to school teachers and social workers with the aim to promote online safety activities within the classroom. Face-to-face awareness raising has always been among the main goals of our campaign. Therefore, in 2009 we organised or participated in 63 events targeting educators, parents, minors of all age groups, industry, government representatives, stakeholders and the wider public. ANNUAL PUBLIC REPORT 2009 In 2009, the Awareness Centre started a special train the educators seminar series based on its two volume educational kit. The seminars are organized around all three axes of the Greek Safer Internet Centre: awareness raising, helpline and health issues concerning youngsters and the Internet, as well as promoting Safeline and its reporting facilities. 13

14 AWARENESS RAISING ACTIVITIES OUR YOUTH PANEL Our youth panel consists of young people in the ages of 12 to 18. These youngsters cooperate with the Awareness Centre and provide their opinion and view about online technologies and potential dangers. Additionally, the panel members act as Safer Internet ambassadors towards the wider public, but mostly towards their peers. Those youngster s views are extremely useful for better defining the (online) content and procedures that the safety, security and notifications mechanisms should take into account, as the observations come from the actual end-user group that the Safer Internet programme is addressing. During 2009, the panel members participated in various regional, national and international events, as young ambassadors towards their peers. 14

15 SAFER INTERNET DAY 2009 Safer Internet Day 2009 was celebrated in more than 55 countries worldwide. Beyond its participation in the common Insafe activities, the Greek Awareness Centre organised for this day s celebrations a high-profile press conference, at the Conference Centre of the General Secretariat of Information & Communication, in Athens. The conference was opened by Ms. Evangelia Markidou, the Greek Centre s project officer, presenting E.C. s cyberbullying campaign. Also, Ms. Markidou informed the conference attendees about the European memorandum signed on that day between 17 SNS providers and the E.C. The event was honoured by important speakers from the government: the head of the Greek Cyber Crime police dept., the D.A.R.T. 4 coordinator, as representative of the Special Secretariat for Digital Planning - Ministry of Economy and Finances, and the Greek Ombudsman for the Rights of the Child. The highlight of the event was the presentation of the Centre s youth panel; all youngsters presented in pairs their view about the Internet and its safety, attracting huge media attention and admiration. ANNUAL PUBLIC REPORT Digital Awareness & Response to Threats 15

16 AWARENESS RAISING ACTIVITIES NATIONAL COOPERATION The Awareness Centre along with the Ηelpline and Ηotline, established the Greek Safer Internet Centre s Advisory Board. The board consists of representatives from the government, the industry, child welfare, law enforcement, research and technology. It acts as consulting entity to the awareness campaign for future activities planning, as well as multiplying force of the campaign s messages through its own dissemination channels. Members of the Advisory Board: Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs / Greek School Network Ministry of Economy and Finance / Special Secretariat for Digital Planning Ministry of Internal Affairs / G.S. of Information - G.S. of Communication Computer Crime Unit (Athens & Thessaloniki) Panhellenic Secondary Education ICT Teachers Union ΟΤΕ Cosmote Forthnet NCSR Demokritos Ekpoizo Consumer Organisation University of Athens / Communication and Mass Media Faculty Motor Press Hellas / Technology Press Department Nafteboriki newspaper Representation of the European Commission in Greece (honorary member) On October 30, 2009, the Awareness Centre s coordinator signed a special Memorandum of Understanding with the Greek Orthodox Church (Archbishop of Athens & Greece). The goal of this honorable cooperation is to implement common activities that promote the kids and youngsters welfare in respect to online worlds. 16

17 HELPLINE ANNUAL PUBLIC REPORT 2009 The Adolescent Health Unit (A.H.U., 2nd Dept. of Pediatrics, University of Athens P&A Kyriakou Children s Hospital) offers, for the first time in Greece, a Helpline where minors and their families are able to raise concerns about illegal and harmful content on the Internet, about problems they encounter, about unwanted experiences, and about psychological problems, such as isolation or Internet addiction. Τhe dedicated toll-free number and the address help@saferinternet.gr are available on working days (9:00-15:00) to everybody who would like to contact the helpline, facing one of the above problems. Target audiences are at a first level minors, college students, parents and educators, and at a second level the general public, industry, government, and public services. The helpline started to operate in mid-august, and for the period August December 2009, it received 443 inquiries, or in other words, 4-5 inquiries daily. O ther Blackmail S elf harm, s uicide Grooming Anorexia P ers onal info theft Dangerous content Cyber violence/bullying Financial fraud Internet Addiction G eneral Information Helpline inquiries per type (August December 2009) 85% 6% Minors A dults Professionals 9% Inquiries demographic data (August December 2009) 17

18 COOPERATION WITH THE INSAFE NETWORK Throughout 2009, Awareness Centre and Helpline cooperated with the Insafe network, and actively participated in all its activities and events, such as steering committee meetings, online meetings, training events, contribution to the monthly e-newsletters, participation in special interest groups, as well as at the Annual stakeholders meeting and the Safer Internet Forum. Resources, know-how and expertise was shared with several other Awareness Centres and Helplines of the network. 18

19 ANNUAL PUBLIC REPORT 2009 THE GREEK HOTLINE SAFELINE 19

20 THE GREEK HOTLINE SAFELINE As a result of the Internet evolution, new horizons have opened in communication, news updates and entertainment. Within the framework of this diversity there is a group of people that have taken advantage of the anonymity offered by cyberspace in order to pursue illegal purposes. Often Internet users come to face illegal content or activities such as child pornography circulation. SafeLine comes to capture a dynamic presence in an effort towards a safer Internet as from April It is the Greek Hotline that accepts reports on illegal Internet content, for example pictures of sexual child molestation, racism/xenophobia, or anything else that can be considered illegal according to Greek law. SafeLine s core care is the erasure of pictures and videos that show acts of minors molestation, the shielding of a child s right to safe Internet surfing as well as the tackle of its bullying through cyberspace and mobile phones. 20

21 A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE OF REPORTS IN 2009 ANNUAL PUBLIC REPORT 2009 SafeLine is progressively becoming known to the Greek public, a fact that is evident by the continued increasing number of the reports it receives. Since its foundation year in 2003 till 2009, it has presented a stable escalation, which is due to the sensitivity the Greek public shows to safe Internet usage topics. It is worth mentioning that the number of reports in 2009 was 1778 in comparison to 2008 that were only 715. Many of these reports were forwarded to the Greek Police, to other Hotlines around the world and to other responsible authorities. More specifically, in 2009 SafeLine received a large number of reports concerning Facebook (the social network site), breach of personal data and financial fraud while shopping online REPORTS RECEIVED BY SAFELINE R a c is m 5 % Intellectual P roperty 2% TYPE OF ILLEGAL CONTENT FOR 2009 Ins ult 6% P rivacy infringement 6% Personal data 20% S pa m-p his hing 16% Threat 1% C hild pornography 15% Financial fraud 29% 21

22 THE GREEK HOTLINE SAFELINE HOW TO MAKE A REPORT In order to submit a report in respect to illegal content you come across online, you may choose one of the following ways: Online, filling in the online form at By , sending a message to report@safeline.gr By phone, dialing on working days during office hours (9:00-16:00) In addition to the above ways of reporting, individuals may also send a short message (SMS) to In order to report by SMS, users start their message by typing safeline followed by space, then add their message and send it to the above number. This message is charged on normal rate. The hotline s website ( is also accessible by using the Internet services provided in mobile phones. If you wish, however, to express your query, to ask for any advice, or to obtain any kind of information by us which is not in a form of a report, you may send an electronic message to contact@safeline.gr. It needs to be pointed out that, by submitting a report, the individual reporting reserves the right of his/her anonymity if he/she so wishes. The IP address of the computer used for making a report is not stored in SafeLine s database and if a user wished to give personal data, this data stays confidential and is only used exclusively for the user s update in respect to the progression of the report. Safeguarding the user s anonymity works as an urging force surpassing any reluctance and hesitation towards the submission of a report. 22

23 PROCESSING A REPORT When SafeLine receives a report, it follows a specific and specified procedure as it is described in the following diagram: ANNUAL PUBLIC REPORT 2009 The user finds illegal material on the Internet and reports it to SafeLine. SafeLine receives the report and tries to verify whether the content is in fact illegal or not. SAFELINE.GR REPORT PAGE SafeLine verifies the report and locates the country of origin. SafeLine cannot locate the reported material. The report is rejected. If the material originates from Greece, then SafeLine informs the Greek Police. Of the material originates abroad, the relevant Hotline is informed. If such a Hotline does not exist, then the Greek Police is informed. The Greek Police proceeds to find the perpetrators. The Greek Police informs Interpol. 23

24 THE GREEK HOTLINE SAFELINE WORKING TOGETHER WITH THE GREEK POLICE AUTHORITIES SafeLine collaborates directly with the Greek Police by forwarding reports that contain verified illegal content. In Greece, there are two specialized police units that deal with criminal activities on the Ιnternet: the Cyber Crime Unit in Athens (set in operation in 2004) and the Cyber Crime Unit in Thessaloniki (set in operation in 2006). An example of the Hotline and the Police is described below. In April 2009, an anonymous Internet user sent a report to SafeLine regarding the existence of a Facebook group inviting users to end their lives. effectively! SafeLine forwarded the report directly to the Electronic Crime Unit of the Greek Police Authorities in Thessaloniki in order to have the suspect identified and the Facebook group deleted. Without loosing time, members of the Electronic Crime Unit started the location procedure of the creator-perpetrator of this Facebook group by searching for his digital traces. In collaboration with INTERPOL and their Cypriot counterparts, they managed to track the offender, a 28-year old university student from Cyprus currently studying in Chicago. According to the information given by the Supervisor of the Electronic Crime Unit of Thessaloniki Mr. Papantoniou, the parents of the student were not aware of this specific incident, while the perpetrator claimed that the creation of the group was nothing more than a joke and that naturally he had no intention of encouraging people to commit suicide. While tracing the perpetrator, the deletion of the illegal group in Facebook also took place, in order for its members not to be driven to behaviors dangerous to their physical and physiological well-being. 24

25 INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION As the issue of child pornography cannot be narrowed by borders and nationalities, there are 35 Hotlines in 31 different countries that collaborate together as a team in order for the common goals to be accomplished. The co-ordination of these Hotlines falls into the responsibilities of INHOPE ( that is the International Association of Internet Hotlines supported by the Safer Internet Programme of the European Commission. SafeLine is an official member of INHOPE since the 18th of October 2005 and it actively and effectively takes part in the analysis of report statistics throughout the world. ANNUAL PUBLIC REPORT 2009 Andrew Oosterbaan, Chief of the CHILD EXPLOITATION AND OBSCENITY SECTION, US Department of Justice Ruben Rodriguez, President of INHOPE 25

26 THE GREEK HOTLINE SAFELINE This year INHOPE celebrated its 10th Anniversary. For that occasion, the association issued the following press release. The INHOPE Network celebrates 10 years in the fight against online illegal content, primarily child sex abuse images Brussels November 04, 2009 The INHOPE network of Internet Hotlines today convened a special session to celebrate its 10th Anniversary in the fight against illegal content on the Internet. INHOPE Hotlines provide the general public with a means to report anonymously suspected illegal content online primarily child sexual abuse images. Ruben Rodriguez, President of INHOPE and Director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children opened the meeting saying, the INHOPE Association has taken great strides forward in the last few years; we have grown to 36 Hotlines from 31 different countries both in Europe and around the world. We have dramatically increased our outreach to industry and to law enforcement enabling us to develop collaborative projects and initiatives which in turn have increased our ability to remove child sex abuse images from the Internet. INHOPE is utilizing its unique position representing national Hotlines around the world having developed the first global URL database to record the relevant data of websites that contain images of child sexual abuse. Data collated from the network will enable INHOPE to provide the most comprehensive figures and information on the proliferation and circulation of such illegal content. The information provided by INHOPE and its Members will enable industry, policy makers and law enforcement to target resources in an effort to combat the distribution of this material. By collating the information supplied to our Members by the public and other sources, INHOPE is able to help its stakeholders confront future challenges. The URL database is an invaluable tool for society to report its concerns and by doing so fostering confidence amongst Internet users. To encourage new Hotline initiatives worldwide, INHOPE, in cooperation with the EC has been working to prioritise countries where illegal material can potentially be hosted or produced and countries which are deemed to be important in the fight against illegal material online. Illegal activity on the Internet is a cross border problem that no one organisation can effectively tackle alone and INHOPE Hotlines have proven to be an effective first line of defence against illegal content online and in the fight against online predators. 26

27 Greek combined node for creating public awareness and offering knowledge about how to use the Internet and other online technologies more safely, and for continuing and expanding the operation of the Greek Internet Hotline towards Peer-to-Peer and Mobile Technologies Safer Internet Programme Project No: SIP-2007-CN Start date: January 1, 2009 End date: December 31, 2010 Consortium: Safer Internet Hellas (coordinator) Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas SAFENET University of Athens, Adolescent Health Unit, Second Dept. of Paediatrics Work partially supported by the Commission of the European Communities, Directorate-General Information Society, Safer Internet programme. The project participants are solely responsible for the content of this publication. It does not represent the opinion of the European Community, and the European Community is not responsible for any use that might be made of data appearing therein.

28 ANNUAL PUBLIC REPORT 2009