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How to stay safe online

TheMixTheMix Posts: 3,039 Boards Guru
edited January 5 in Help Desk
Here at The Mix, we believe keeping yourself safe online is extremely important. We've put together a thread with some information and advice about what you can do to protect yourself online. 


1. Don’t share personally identifiable information

It's important to keep any identifying information about yourself private (e.g. your full name, mobile number, email address, or physical address).


2. Check your privacy settings regularly 

Social media sites often update their policies, meaning your privacy settings can change. Keep an eye on your privacy settings and check your accounts are on a setting you are comfortable with. With most social media sites, you can view your profile to see how it would display publicly. This is a useful way to check your profile isn’t showing anything you don’t want to be seen.


Be careful sharing your social media accounts with people you've met online and decline friend requests from anyone you don't know.


3. Take care when sharing pictures or videos of yourself

Be careful sending photos or videos of yourself to a stranger or someone you've met online. Once a photo or video is shared online, it can then be download and shared by anyone. As the saying goes: once something is shared online, you lose control of it. 


4. Be cautious when taking conversations away from The Mix

It's important to be careful chatting with someone you've met online as they might not always be who they say they are.


As friendships here develop, members might contact each other via spaces outside of The Mix (e.g. social media or email). We wouldn’t want to stop relationships growing and developing outside of the community, but keep in mind the risks of taking these conversations away from The Mix.


If you choose to talk outside of The Mix, you’re also choosing to leave the safety and oversight that our moderation system provides. You should never feel pressured or obligated to chat somewhere else. 


We believe it's important that support is provided in an open and moderated space, so we can help keep things as safe as possible. 


Read our thread about helping each other here.

Read our articles about online groomingcyberbullying and online safety.


5. Check what data is collected about you

Every website should have a privacy policy which lets you know what data is collected about you (e.g. email address, IP address). Check what data is collected about you before signing up to a website. 


You can have a read of our privacy policy here.


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If you see something that makes you feel unsafe, uncomfortable, or worried, you should tell a trusted adult as soon as possible. If there's anything happening here at The Mix that you’re worried about or has made you feel uncomfortable, always send us a private message - we're here to keep the community safe. :)


Something missing from this list? Let us know in the [url="https://community.themix.org.uk/categories/help-desk"]Help Desk[/url]!

We're @Aife, @Ella, @Emma_, @Gemma, and @JustV - the staff team here at The Mix.

Our DMs are monitored Monday - Friday (10am - 6pm) with limited cover on weekends. We have a great team of moderators looking after the community outside of those hours to check in on any reported posts.

We're not able to provide support on this account. If you need support urgently for any reason, please call 999, go to your nearest A&E or contact Crisis Messenger by texting THEMIX to 85258.
Post edited by TheMix on
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