SafeSearch filtering
Many users prefer not to have adult sites included in search results (especially if their kids use the same computer). Google's SafeSearch screens for sites that contain explicit sexual content and deletes them from your search results. No filter is 100% accurate, but SafeSearch should eliminate most inappropriate material.
You can choose from among three SafeSearch settings:
- Moderate filtering excludes most explicit images from Google Image Search results but doesn’t filter ordinary web search results. This is your default SafeSearch setting; you'll receive moderate filtering unless you change it.
- Strict filtering applies SafeSearch filtering to all your search results (i.e., both image search and ordinary web search).
- No Filtering, as you've probably figured out, turns off SafeSearch filtering completely.
You can also adjust your SafeSearch settings on the Advanced Search or the Advanced Image Search pages on a per search basis.
We do our best to keep SafeSearch as up-to-date and comprehensive as possible, but inappropriate sites will sometimes slip through the cracks. If you have SafeSearch activated and still find websites containing offensive content in your results, please contact us and we'll investigate it.
Web Surfing as a Family Adventure
Yahoo! is committed to helping create a safe online experience. With your child in mind, Yahoo! has created Yahoo! Kids and built safety features into many of its services. Yahoo! also complies with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a federal law designed to protect children under the age of 13 online.
But as a parent or caregiver, only you can judge what constitutes a positive and educational online experience for your child. You need to take an active role in assessing when and where your child uses the Internet and what he or she does while online.
Parenting for the online world is very similar to parenting in the real world. Don't let your child go anywhere unsupervised until you’re sure he or she can handle it properly. Don't allow your child to talk to strangers, especially if you're not around. And try to keep an eye on how he or she is spending free time and with whom.
Create a basic safety foundation for your child online by emphasizing two rules: Do not give out any personal information online, and do not set up face-to-face meetings with anyone without a parent's permission.
Before Your Child Goes Online:
- Learn about the Web. Take a course or ask a knowledgeable friend or relative. Become familiar with how to sign on to web sites, search for information online, and use communication tools such as email and instant messages. Yahoo! Help can guide you through using many Yahoo! products, and Yahoo! Safely’s Parents Guide discusses some risks and safety features of specific products that your child is likely to use.
- Decide where to put your child’s computer. Place the computer that your child uses in the most public area of your home, so you can monitor activity. If your child has access to laptops and cell phones that can access the Internet, establish rules about when and where your child may be online.
- Parental control software. Familiarize yourself with parental control software and any control features of your online service or ISP. Some programs allow you to filter specific sites, a group of sites that the software deems inappropriate, or sites with inappropriate keywords in them. But remember that software is not a substitute for true parental supervision.
- Create a Family Pledge for Online Safety. This pledge should clearly state what your child is and is not allowed to do online. Involve your child in the creation of the pledge, both as an opportunity to talk about the issues that will arise and as a way to get his or her input. With a little awareness and preparation, you can minimize the risks involved in letting your child interact with others online.
When Your Child is Online
- Create a user ID. To use many web sites, including some Yahoo! sites, you must first register. Learn how to create a safe online ID.
- Keep passwords private. If a password gets into the wrong hands, you could be locked out of your own account, fall victim to identity theft, or be subject to harassment. “Phishing” is a common ploy used to gain access to online accounts by trying to trick you into giving out your password and other personal information. Learn more about password "phishing" scams. Yahoo! will never ask for a password or other personal information by email. Beware of fake emails that make such requests. Also, learn how to choose a password.
- Protect personal information. Teach your child about the importance of safeguarding his or her identity by not posting personal information online. Personal details such as last name, address, phone numbers, school name, date of birth, and photos can be used to identify a child or teenager in real life. To further protect personal information, learn about the role of web sites’ privacy policies.
- Beware of strangers. When chatting online, playing games, or posting messages, keep in mind that you never know the people you are communicating with. Your child should use caution when approached by someone unknown, just as in real life. Instruct your child to reject invitations from unknown users and never respond to email or instant messages that make him or her feel uncomfortable. And to tell a parent about any personal or sexual questions from a stranger online. Many Yahoo! services also allow you to block or ignore specific users. Choose a specific service to learn how to set up this blocking.
- Beware of requests for in-person meetings. Your child should never arrange a face-to-face meeting with an online acquaintance without involving you. The Internet can be a great way for your child to meet people with similar interests, but unfortunately, people are not always who they seem or say they are.
- Be aware of cyberbullying. Adults pose a risk to your child online, but so do other kids. Your child might receive unkind messages online from his or her peers. Or a classmate might pretend to be your child and post false information or unflattering photos on a web site. This is the online version of the bullying that goes on in kids’ real lives. As a parent, you should keep communication open with your child so that you can help out when such situations occur.
Most importantly, spend time with your child looking at web sites — it can offer a window into his or her interests, concerns, and ways of thinking. Enjoy this opportunity to have some fun together, while explaining what is and isn't appropriate behavior, and why. Make it enjoyable and productive time so that in the future, your child will feel comfortable sharing both good and bad online experiences with you.
Even if your child follows all of these precautions, he or she might still encounter inappropriate material or receive unpleasant messages from other users. If such inappropriate or sexually suggestive language, hate speech, or harassment occurs on Yahoo!, please report abuse to the service your child was using.
The first thing everyone needs to know is that YouTube is NOT for people under the age of 13.
Some Things Are Better Left Private…
Posting videos of yourself, your friends, or your family can be fun and exciting. You never know who will find it—it might even get featured on the front page, or wind up on the top of the Most Viewed! If your video is personal, consider marking it private so that only your friends and those you share it with can view it.
Protect Your Secret Identity!
If you do post public videos, make sure there isn't anything in them that could help a stranger figure out who you are or where you live. Personal information like your telephone number or home address should NEVER be shared with other users. Watch out for things like license plate numbers on cars or images of the outside of your home which might accidentally appear in the background of a video and help a stranger to track you down.
Remember, YouTube employees will never ask you for your password, email address, or other account information. Don't be fooled if someone contacts you pretending to be from YouTube!
Keep Your Cool, Keep YouTube Safe
Whether it's a flame war, cyberbullying, or people being just plain mean, comments can get pretty rough sometimes. When you post a video you can choose whether you want to let people comment on your videos at all. If someone leaves a comment on your video that is mean or bothers you, you can always delete the comment. Another option is to have comments "kinda" on, which means that you get to approve or remove people's comments before they appear on the site.
YouTube doesn't allow videos with nudity, graphic violence or hate. If you come across a video like this, click the link on the video to flag it as Inappropriate and submit the form on the next page to report it to YouTube.
YouTube has literally MILLIONS of viewers every day and just like in the real world, most of the people are good, but some aren't. So please take care to protect yourself and your fellow users by keeping personal videos private, your identity a secret, your comments clean, and by using the flagging system to report abuse.
— The YouTube Team