Online Safety Policy

Our Policy

​

This policy applies to all freelance and temporary workers, advisory committee members, volunteers, trustees (referred to collectively below as “team members”) and visitors involved in online activity with vulnerable adults.

 

The purpose of this policy statement is to:

● Ensure the safety and wellbeing of vulnerable adults is paramount when they are using the
internet, social media or mobile devices

● Provide staff and volunteers with the overarching principles that guide our approach to

online safety

● Ensure that, as an organisation, we operate in line with our values and within the law in

terms of how we use online devices.

​

This policy is available on raiseyourvoice.com, on the Raise Your Voice shared drive. Those with direct responsibility for safeguarding are required to comply with its requirements. The policy should be read alongside our policies and procedures on:

● Safeguarding

● Health and Safety

● Privacy Notice

● Vulnerable adults: Defined as vulnerable by the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006;

this might include adults with a learning or physical disability, a physical or mental illness, chronic or otherwise, including an addiction to alcohol or drugs, or reduced physical or mental capacity

 

We believe that:

● vulnerable adults should never experience abuse of any kind

● vulnerable adults should be able to use the internet for education and personal

development, but safeguards need to be in place to ensure they are kept safe at all times.

 

We recognise that:

● the online world provides everyone with many opportunities; however, it can also present risks and challenges

● we have a duty to ensure that all adults involved in our organisation are protected from potential harm online

● we have a responsibility to help keep vulnerable adults safe online, whether or not they are using Raise Your Voice’s network and devices

● all vulnerable adults, regardless of age, disability, gender, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse

● working in partnership with vulnerable adults, their families, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting their welfare and in helping to ensure vulnerable adults are safe online.

 

We will seek to keep vulnerable adults safe by:

● providing clear and specific directions to team members and volunteers on how to behave online through our behaviour code for adults as outlined in Raise Your Voice’s Safeguarding policy
● supporting and encouraging the vulnerable adults using our service to use the internet, social media and mobile phones in a way that keeps them safe and shows respect for others
● supporting and encouraging families and carers to do what they can to keep the vulnerable adults in their lives safe online
● developing clear and robust procedures to enable us to respond appropriately to any incidents of inappropriate online behaviour, whether by a vulnerable adult or a team member
● no permanent record of online meetings/sessions to be kept on personal equipment by freelancers and non-staff members; this includes any recording or screenshots.
● any recordings of online meeting/sessions taken by team members with the explicit consent of all participants and attendees to be stored on Google drive and deleted from personal devices immediately.
● ensuring that usernames, logins, email accounts and passwords are used effectively ensuring personal information about the vulnerable adults who are involved in our organisation is held securely and shared only as appropriate
● reviewing and updating the security of our information systems regularly
● ensuring that images of vulnerable adults and families are used only after their written
permission has been obtained, and only for the purpose for which consent has been given
● providing supervision, support and training for freelancers and volunteers about online
safety
● examining and risk assessing any social media platforms and new technologies before they
are used within the organisation.
○ Only Raise Your Voice email addresses are used to set up and access accounts
○ Only accounts set-up in Raise Your Voice’s name are used
○ Security and data risk assessment is carried out for any social media platforms and
new technologies

​

If online abuse occurs, we will respond to it by:

● having clear and robust safeguarding procedures in place for responding to abuse (including online abuse)
● making sure our response takes the needs of the person experiencing abuse, any bystanders and our organisation as a whole into account
● reviewing the plan developed to address online abuse at regular intervals, in order to ensure that any problems have been resolved in the long term.

 

Reviewed April 2023