Safeline

Having recognized the importance of safer Internet Access¹, several stakeholders are becoming increasingly more active in this area. These stakeholders include (i) citizen’s organizations who promote safer use of the Internet, (ii) governments who want to protect their youth, and (iii) researchers who conduct research in the area of advanced filtering and monitoring methodologies in order to provide the necessary tools which will facilitate safer Internet access. Most of the relevant stakeholders in Europe are organized around INHOPE, the Association of Internet Hotline providers which has 17 members including Greece, through the participation of SAFELINE (www.safeline.gr).

FORTH-ICS had the foresight to realize the importance of Internet Safety and have started working in the area as early as 2001. This head start gave us significant know-how, and today we have reached a point which we are currently considered among the leaders in the area of Safer Internet Access in Greece. Indeed, both the people and the press (http://www.safeline.gr/press.html) frequently consult us in all areas related to the safer use of the Internet. In addition to the mentioned head-start, the people of DCS are committed to continue working in this area, and to spread the safer Internet use beyond the borders of Greece. For example, DCS has recently started an official collaboration with the Cyprus hotline (Safeweb). Over the next few years, we plan to spread our excellence and collaboration to other neighboring countries, and especially in the Balkans area. Finally, by being a Research Organization FORTH-ICS understands the technical issues behind facilitating the safer Internet use, and therefore is a unique position to analyze and promote technical approaches towards protecting children from possible dangers on the Internet.
The objectives in this context are to:

• Promote and facilitate the safer use of communication networks, as well as the various applications built on top of them including the world-wide web, email, p2p systems, chat, etc.
• Provide Greek citizens with a single point of reference for Safer Internet access by operating a hotline (www.safeline.gr), which will help towards reducing the spread of illegal Internet content
• Cooperate with Greek awareness organizations to increase people’s knowledge about Internet safety issues, especially for sensitive groups of people, such as students, elementary/high-school teachers, parents, as well as the general public.
• Ensure the visibility of the Greek hotline Safeline (www.safeline.gr) to the general public and to key players, organizations, and public bodies related to Internet, through the distribution of promotional material, the organization of presentations and training seminars, but also through media and the press.
• Participate in the activities of the European Network of hotlines (INHOPE), benefit from its expertise, and contribute to its goals.
• Act as a mentor hotline for neighbouring countries or other hotlines from new EU member states.

(1)In this document when we are talking about Safer Internet Access we interpret it in it modern broad sense which includes all kinds of communication networks (i.e. Internet, mobile phones, etc.), as well as all kinds of communication applications that run on top of them (i.e. the web, email, chat, video-conference, etc.).

Safeline Annual Report in PDF (600kb)