CertifiedKid – licensed to chat!
Kids chat with other kids online. Or do they? A Danish certification system powered by Telenor lets you verify that the “kid” is in fact a kid and not an adult posing as one.
Topics: Safe, Enable and Social
Many children use social media and online chat forums to interact with friends and to meet new people. However, there are certain risks involved: Some adults pose as children in chat forums to make contact with minors. The majority of children do not want to be contacted by adults, but it can be virtually impossible to identify these “hidden adults” or verify their age.
A “chat certificate”
CertifiedKid seeks to overcome this risk by providing a chat ”certificate” to minors. Users can document their age and sex to other children online and in return see the age and sex of other users. This enables children to know more about the people they meet online and to choose whoever they want to communicate with.
Certification through schools
CertifiedKid operates through schools in Denmark. All children aged 9 - 16 can be “certified” through their school. The certificate is hosted on a central server, enabling users to identify themselves to others from any point of access. Certified Kid is not intended to replace dialogue between adults, schools, and children about safe internet behaviour. However, it is a useful tool to increase children’s safety when chatting online.
According to a survey conducted by Telenor, 75 percent of Danish parents want better tools to protect children against online abuse in chat rooms and online communities. Hopefully, this school-initiative can be such a tool, as more and more children get certified and form safer networks.
Telenor main sponsor
CertifiedKid is a private project, owned and operated by Daniel Madie. Telenor is the main sponsor behind it and enables the certificate to be offered free of charge to all children and youth.
“Telenor wanted to support CertifiedKid because we believe the certificate makes it safer and more secure for children and young people to communicate online,” says Karin Skjødt Hindkjær, director of HR and Communications at Telenor Denmark.
Telenor does not have any commercial interests in CertifiedKid.
Read more about CertifiedKid at www.certifiedkid.dk (in Danish)