Tag: child safety

NSPCC aims to reset the debate on end-to-end encryption

  • Polling shows majority of adults in Scotland would back end-to-end encryption in private messaging if children’s safety is not compromised
  • NSPCC chief calls for a reset of the debate to protect the safety and privacy rights of children
  • Home Secretary to address NSPCC event on end-to-end encryption

The NSPCC is warning that private messaging is the frontline of child sexual abuse online and is calling for an urgent re-set of debates on end-to-end encryption.

The call comes as polling shows the Scottish public support for end-to-end encryption of private messages would double if platforms could demonstrate children’s safety would not be compromised.

An NSPCC/YouGov survey found 29% of adults in Scotland support using end-to-end encryption on social media and messaging services, but this jumps to 59% if it was rolled out only if and when tech firms can ensure children’s safety is protected.

A total of 183 adults in Scotland were surveyed between 31st December 2020 and 4th January 2021.

Major tech firms currently use a range of technology to identify child abuse images and detect grooming and sexual abuse in private messages.

But there are fears that Facebook’s proposals to end-to-end encrypt Facebook Messenger and Instagram would render these tools useless, with estimates that 70% of global child abuse reports could be lost.

In 2018 these reports resulted in 2,500 arrests and 3,000 children being safeguarded in the UK.

A major NSPCC roundtable attended by the UK Government Home Secretary, Priti Patel, will today (Monday) bring together child protection, civil society and law enforcement experts from the UK, US, Canada, Ireland and Australia.

The charity will call for an urgent reset of the debate around end-to-end encryption which they say has increasingly become an ‘either or’ argument skewed in favour of adult privacy over the safety and privacy rights of children.

However, latest polling suggests public support for a balanced settlement that protects the safety of children while maximising the privacy of all users –  including children who have been sexually abused.

  • More than half (52%) of adults in Scotland believe the ability to detect child abuse images is more important than the right to privacy and more than a third (39%) think they are equally important. Only 3% say privacy should be prioritised over safety.
  • 94% support social networks and messaging services having the technical ability to detect child abuse images on their sites.
  • 95% support a technical ability to detect adults sending sexual images to children on their services.

Sir Peter Wanless, NSPCC Chief Executive, said: “Private messaging is the frontline of child sexual abuse but the current debate around end-to-end encryption risks leaving children unprotected where there is most harm.

“The public want an end to rhetoric that heats up the issue but shines little light on a solution, so it’s in firms’ interests to find a fix that allows them to continue to use tech to disrupt abuse in an end-to-end encrypted world.

“We need a coordinated response across society, but ultimately the UK Government must be the guardrail that protects child users if tech companies choose to put them at risk with dangerous design choices.”

A re-set debate should focus on demonstrating the impact that end-to-end encryption will have on engineering away platforms’ ability to find abuse in private messaging, and how this can be avoided.

The current debate predominantly focuses on the impact of end-to-end encryption for law enforcement, which emphasises the investigation of abuse after it has already taken place – rather than focussing on the loss of platforms’ ability to detect and disrupt abuse much earlier. 

At the roundtable, the NSPCC will share new research and analysis about the implications of end-to-end encryption for child protection and call for tech firms to refocus their approach through safer design features and investment in technology.

It says tech firms should strive to achieve a new settlement that balances properly the benefits and risks of end-to-end encryption, underpinned by legal safeguards through regulation.

The NSPCC is calling for a reset of the debate that allows parties to reach a balanced settlement on both safety and privacy by:

  • Considering the needs of all users, including children
  • Avoiding characterising children’s safety as a simplistic trade off against adult’s privacy
  • Reflecting children’s digital rights under international law
  • Tech firms respecting the full range of fundamental rights at stake, rather than privileging some over others
  • Considering how particular design features can exacerbate the risk of end-to-end encryption to children – e.g. Facebook algorithms that suggest children as friends to adults and plans to auto delete messages on WhatsApp

The UK Government Home Secretary will address the meeting a year after the NSPCC brought together 130 children’s organisations to call on Facebook not to proceed with end-to-end encryption until they can guarantee children’s safety won’t be compromised.

The NSPCC’s report End-to-End Encryption: Understanding the Impacts for Child Safety Online compiled research and interviews with experts from 17 organisations in the UK, US and Australia, including industry, government, law enforcement, civil society and academics.

Its policy briefing Private messaging and the rollout of end-to-end encryption – the implications for child protectionsets out the importance of a range of responses to ensure child protection can be maintained in end-to-end encrypted environments, through technological, civil society and legislative and regulatory action.

Increase in NSPCC referrals to police and councils about children suffering in violent homes

  • The charity warns referrals are likely to rise further under current lockdown restrictions
  • NSPCC urges people to speak out if they have concerns about a child’s safety or wellbeing

Referrals from the NSPCC helpline to agencies in Scotland about children living with domestic abuse have increased by more than 30% during the pandemic.

The latest figures reveal that the average monthly number of referrals about this issue to Scottish agencies, such as police and local authorities, has risen from 32 in the first three months of last year to 42 in the remainder months.  A total of 377 referrals were made between April 1 and December 31.

Across the UK, the average monthly number of contacts to the NSPCC helpline about this issue has increased by more than 50%. Concerned neighbours have increasingly reported hearing non-stop arguing and kids crying to the charity’s confidential helpline for adults worried about children.

The NSPCC’s frontline teams are concerned that the risk of young people suffering the toxic consequences of domestic abuse has been heightened.

One member of the public who called the Helpline for advice said: “For the past few weeks, I’ve been hearing loud and aggressive shouting between a man and woman who live a few doors away from me.

“They’re at it pretty much every day and it generally lasts a couple of hours. Sometimes I hear their children crying when the parents are arguing. I’ve only really noticed this since I’ve been at home on furlough. I’m worried the kids aren’t being looked after properly.”

Left unaddressed this form of abuse can have profound and long-term impacts on children’s physical and mental wellbeing that can last into adulthood.

Joanna Barrett, NSPCC Scotland Policy and Public Affairs Manager, said: “With families facing increased pressure behind closed doors, lockdown restrictions have made some children more vulnerable to experiencing domestic abuse, as well as other forms of abuse and neglect.

“It is vital that no child becomes invisible at this time, and support is available and provided now to all children and families who need it.

“It is also so important that people speak out if they are concerned about a child. Our helpline experts are there to answer any questions and concerns, provide reassurance or take quick action if we feel a child is in danger.”

Young people who experience domestic abuse can have trouble learning, depression or suicidal thoughts, or develop eating disorders drugs or alcohol problems.

One 13-year-old told Childline: “Recently my mum has been yelling at me and calling me names for no apparent reason. My parents fight a lot, like really a lot.  My dad overreacts but mum makes the situation worse.

“Today my parents got in a huge argument that included a lot of shouting and my dad was throwing things at my mum.  I was shocked because none of their fights have got physical before, and now I am wondering how bad things could get.

“My parents don’t talk anymore and they treat me like their little messenger passing comments between them. It is really affecting me as I constantly feel anxious and cry myself to sleep. I really need help.”

Anyone who is experiencing domestic abuse or has concerns that someone else may be can contact the NSPCC’s Helpline for information and advice on 0808 800 5000, email help@nspcc.org.uk or fill in our online form.

Strathclyde Sirens backs NSPCC campaign to safeguard children in sport

  • Strathclyde Sirens netball team has joined calls encouraging parents to sign the NSPCC’s Sports Parents Promise to keep their children safe in sport
  • New survey reveals almost a third of UK parents with children in sport don’t know who to turn to over safeguarding concerns
  • Parents in Sports Week promotes parents’ engagement in their children’s sports

Over 30 per cent of parents with children active in sport would not know who to turn to if they had safeguarding concerns, a survey conducted by the NSPCC and polling company YouGov has revealed. Continue reading Strathclyde Sirens backs NSPCC campaign to safeguard children in sport

NSPCC Scotland urges primary schools to help children stay safe from abuse

  • Last year the NSPCC visited almost 900 schools in Scotland, speaking to over 150,000 children about abuse and what they should do if they ever feel unsafe.
  • Charity wants to reach every school in the Scotland as well as the rest of the UK.
  • The ‘Speak out. Stay safe.’ programme can help schools deliver on the new compulsory Relationships Education curriculum.

Primary schools across Scotland which are yet to receive a visit from the NSPCC’s free ‘Speak out. Stay safe’ programme are being urged to sign-up as soon as possible.

In 2018/19 the charity visited 872 schools, from the Scottish Borders to the Northern Isles, and delivered workshops to almost 150,000 children, helping them understand how to recognise and report abuse in an accessible and age appropriate way.  Continue reading NSPCC Scotland urges primary schools to help children stay safe from abuse