What is Safer Internet Day?

Safer Internet Day is a yearly event that's held on the second day of the second week of February. Now recognised in over 170 countries, SID aims to promote the safe and positive use of the internet — especially among children and young people.

In this article, we're going to explain more about this important day and share some top tips on how to stay safe when using the web. We’ve also recommended some powerful tools you can use to protect your child from harmful content.

This year, Safer Internet Day will take place on Tuesday the 6th of February. In fact, 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of SID.

Safer Internet Day brings people "together for a better internet" by encouraging individuals, companies, educators, and policymakers to engage with children and young people on topics surrounding online safety, cyberbullying, and the responsible use of social media.

It's all about raising awareness and providing an opportunity for everyone to take a step back and reflect on their own digital behaviour. But more importantly, it's about making the internet a safer place for everyone and teaching people how to mitigate risks on their devices.

The internet lets you do lots of cool things. You can shop online, read articles, watch videos, share content with friends on social media — it's almost endless. As we spend so much of our lives online, that’s why it's so important that we take steps to protect ourselves. Because there are people out there who exploit the internet to scam other users and infect their devices with damaging viruses.

Here are some top tips to help you stay safe when using the internet:

• Keep software up to date: Tech like your smartphone will encourage you to update its software every once in a while. That's because these updates will usually include security patches to help protect you against the latest online threats.
• Use strong and unique passwords: Loads of people use the same, obvious passwords across their online accounts. That’s why you should always create complex and hard-to-guess passwords that only you will know. And you can even use tools like LastPass that’ll securely store your login details and generate secure passwords for you.
• Turn on two-factor authentication: This adds an extra layer of security to your online accounts by requiring a code in addition to your password. Lots of services now offer this feature, so it's best to use it whenever you can.
• Don't click on random links and attachments: Only click on links or download attachments from emails or websites that you trust. Posts you might see on social platforms can contain dodgy links too, so always be careful.
• Use a VPN: A virtual private network (VPN) encrypts your internet traffic to help protect your privacy and security online. Consider using a reputable VPN service like NordVPN or ExpressVPN when using public Wi-Fi networks or accessing sensitive information.

Like it or not, we live in an increasingly digital world. So, it's important for kids to have access to the internet so that they can socialise with friends and find useful info that'll help them with their homework. But unfortunately, the web is full of sites that you’ll want to stop your child from seeing.

As well as the useful tips above, you can also use other specialist tools that'll help to protect them from dangerous content online:

Third-party parental control apps let you monitor the sites your child visits and the apps they use on their smartphone. Here are a few of the best:

• Norton Family

Norton Family lets you can see what your kids search for and the videos they watch, as well as monitor for age-appropriate content. You can also set screen time limits to control how much they use their device and locate their mobile phone with built-in tracking.

• Qustodio

Qustodio is an all-in-one parental control tool that filters out and blocks websites, apps, and games with inappropriate content. And like Norton Family, it also allows you to set time limits. But one of the best things about Qustodio is that it lets you see who your child is calling and texting, and even block specific numbers.

• Aura

Aura is another option that has pretty much everything you need to protect your family from internet baddies. Aside from the parental control app that's really easy to set up, Aura also provides a password manager, antivirus software, a VPN, and much more — including Dark Web monitoring, data breach alerts, and cyberbullying notifications.

If you’re an iD Mobile customer, you'll be pleased to know that we offer a content restriction service that helps you to protect your child from viewing inappropriate content online.

Here’s how to set it up:

1. Log in to the iD Mobile app if you’re using a phone or tablet, or log in to the my account area on a browser instead.
2. Select the 'Services' option.
3. Toggle adult content filtering 'On' or 'Off'.

Lots of apps and mobile phone games will try to entice users with in-app purchases. And if your child's not careful or aware of how much these sneaky in-app purchases can cost, then it could end up setting you back a few hundred pounds.

Here's how to stop any accidental spending:

On iPhone

1. Open the Settings app and tap on 'Screen Time'.
2. If you haven't already, set up Screen Time and create a passcode.
3. Tap on 'Content & Privacy Restrictions'.
4. If it's not already enabled, toggle the switch to turn it on.
5. Tap on 'iTunes & App Store Purchases'.
6. Select 'In-App Purchases' and toggle the switch to turn it off.

On Android Phones

1. Open the Google Play Store app.
2. Open the menu and select 'Settings'.
3. Scroll down to 'User controls' and choose 'Parental controls'.
4. Tap the toggle switch to turn on parental controls.
5. Create a PIN code to use for controlling in-app purchases.
6. Once enabled, you can adjust the settings to control what content is accessible and what can be purchased.

Premium Rate Services (otherwise known as 'phone-paid services') are goods and services you can buy using things like a mobile phone. This can include competitions, mobile games, charity donations, and more.

You can restrict access to Premium Rate Services with help from iD Mobile. Our 'Premium' services option can be accessed from your iD Mobile account or the iD Mobile app, which lets you bar all use of future premium calls, SMS and MMS services.

Do you have any other great tips for protecting yourself online? Please share them in the comments section below.